WM 



■i¥, 







Class £j_0,a^_ 

Book j l\^''^- 

vGopyiiglit]^" . 

-COPYRIGHT DEPOSai 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/popularhistoryofOOwith 



J.^' 







QUEEN VICTORIA, 187 7 



lOSTON, B.B.RUSSELL. 



POPULAR HISTORY 



DOMINION OF CANADA 



jFr0m tl)z ©tscflijers at America to tfjc Present ULimz, 



INCLUDING 



A HISTORY OF THE PROVINCES OF ONTARIO, QUEBEC, NOVA 

SCOTIA, NEW BRUNSWICK, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, 

BRITISH COLUMBIA, MANITOBA, AND THE 

NORTHWEST TERRITORY; AND OF THE 

ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 



WILLIAM rf. WITHROW, M.A. 

Author of "The Catacombs of Rome," "School History of Canada," etc 



WITH STEEL PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND NUMEROUS WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 



PUBLISHED BY 



B. B. RUSSELL, BOSTON, MASS. 

CLOUGH & TOWNSEND, TORONTO, ONT. L. A. KENDALL, MONTREAL, P. Q. 
JOHN KILLAM, Sr., YARMOUTH, N. S. JOHN RUSSELL, PORTLAND, ME. 

1S78. 

/7n 






ffiopnrigfjf, tSZS, 
BY B. B. RUSSELL. 



ALL RIGHTS RK8ERVED. 



Albert J. Wkight, ,-^ 

PBINTEK, A '\ 

No. 79 Milk Street (cor. of Federal), 

BOSTON. 



^■\i3 




i-O'HS DUFFEFM 



HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 

THE EARL OF DUFFERIN, K.P., G.C.M.G., K.C.B., 

(Sobrniax'tSenttul of Ifje Somfnion of CanaUa, 

THIS HISTORY 

OF THE COUNTRY WHICH HE HAS SO WISELY GOVERNED, 

AND IN WHOSE WELFARE HE TAKES SO DEEP AN 

INTEREST IS, BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION, 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



The essential pre-requisite of a rational patriotism, is 
an intelligent acquaintance with the history of one's 
country. To supply the means of making that acquaint- 
ance has been for years the cherished purpose of the 
writer. After long-continued and careful labour, in 
which no pains have been spared, this volume is sub- 
mitted to the public. 

The author has endeavoured to describe, in as full 
detail as his prescribed limits of space would permit, 
the picturesque incidents of the early history of Canada; 
the stirring episodes of its military conflicts; and the 
important events leading to and following the confed- 
eration of the British l!^orth American Provinces. The 
growth of the principles of civil liberty and the develop- 
ment of the Canadian Constitution will, it is hoped, be 
found impartially traced in these pages. 

The history of the maritime provinces, ^ova Scotia, 
INTew Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, together 
with that of the newer provinces of the ]N'orthwest and 
the Pacific coast, as well as that of Old Canada, has 
been given as fully as possible. The contemporary his- 
tory of the Empire, and of foreign countries, where it 



6 PREFACE. 

is intimately connected with that of Canada, has been 
interwoven with the text. 

The writer has made copious use of the best existing 
sources of information, embracing original documents 
in French and English, parliamentary reports, newspa- 
per files representing the views of all political parties, 
and many printed volumes. He has endeavoured to 
observe strict impartiality, and trusts that he has suc- 
ceeded in doing so, even in treading upon the delicate 
ground of recent political events. 

The particular attention of the reader is directed to 
the carefully prepared map which accompanies this 
volume, without the use of which, the important geo- 
graphical relations of places and events cannot be un- 
derstood. A copious index has been considered essen- 
tial to the completeness of the work. 

W. H. w. 

Toronto, May 10, 1878. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 



Ancient Traditions — The Norsemen in America — Diaz — Columbus Discovers 
San Salvador, 1492 — His further Discoveries, Misfortunes, and Death — 
Vespucci — Da'Gama, 17 



CHAPTER II. 

EARLY EXPLORATION. 



The Cabots — Corter6al — De Lfery — Verrazzani — Jacques Cartier Discovers 
the St. Lawrence, 1534 — Eoberval, Viceroy, 1541 — Cartier his Lieutenant 

— Founds Charlesbourg — The Eobervals Founder at Sea, 1549, . . 25 

CHAPTER III. 

THE INDIAN TRIBES. 

The Mound-Builders — Their probable Origin and Fate — Modern Tribes — 
Their Arts, Wars, Superstitions — Alliances — The Fur-Trade — Tribal Divi- 
sions — Present Conation, 34 

CHAPTER IV. 

EARLY COLONIZATION — FOUNDING OP PORT ROYAL. 

Spanish and English Colonization — Frobisher — Magellan — Drake — Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert — Raleigh — Gosnold — Hudson — Convicts at Sable 
Island — Chauvin at Tadousac — Champlain's first Voyage to Canada, 1603 

— The Tragedy of St. Croix — Poutrincourt Founds Port Royal, 1605 — 
Lescharbot — The " Order of the Good Time " — Discord at Port Royal — 
Mount Desert — Captain Argall. 44 

CHAPTER V. 

champlain's administration. 

Champlain Founds Quebec, 1608 — Explores Country — Iroquois War — The 
De Caens — The Hundred Associates, 1627 — Acadia — Kirk's Conquest of 
Quebec, 1629 — Restored to the French, 1632 — The La Tours in Acadia — 
Death of Champlain, 1635 — His Character, 57 

CHAPTER VI. 

ENGLISH COLONIZATION — CANADA UNDER THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 

English Colonies — Montmagny — Madame de la Peltrie — Marie de I'ln- 
carnation — Founding of Ville Marie (Montreal), 1642 — Indian Wars and 
Treaties — The Jesuit Missionaries — Isaac Jogues — Bressani, . . 70 



3 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER yil. 

THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 

The Huron Mission — Br^euf, Lalemant, Daniel, DaTosfc — Trials and Triumphs 
of the Missionaries — Destruction of the Huron Mission, 1648-1649 — Iroquois 
Ravages — The Onondaga Mission planted, 1656 — Abandoned, 1658 — Dulac 
des Ormeaux — Thermopylss of Canada — Laval — Earthquakes, . . 84 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ACADIA. 

La Tour and D'Aulnay — Their Feuds — Madame La Tour's Heroic Defence of 
St. John — Its Capture, 1667— Perfidy of D'Aulnay — His Death — La Tour 
Marries his Widow — Le Borgne — Re-conquest of Acadia by the English, 
1654 — It is Restored to the French, 1667, 105 

CHAPTER IX. 

ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 

The Supreme Council — De Mezy — Great Company of the West — De Tracy 

— Talon — De Courcelles — Mohawk Wars — Seigneurial Tenure — The Fur 
Trade — Jesuit Explorations — The French on Hudson's Bay — In Newfound- 
land, . Ill 

CHAPTER X. 

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 

Frontenac — Joliet and Marquette Discover the Mississippi, 1673 — La Salle 

— Fort Frontenac — Launch of the " Griffin," 1679 — Cr^ve Cceur — Mutiny 

— Tonti — Hennepin — La Salle in Louisiana — Disasters at Fort St. Louis 

— Assassination of La Salle, 1687 — Tragic Fate of Texan Colony, . 129 

CHAPTER XI. 

"the AGONY OF CANADA." 

Civil Disputes — La Barre, Viceroy — Iroquois Wars — Famine Cove — Denon- 
ville. Viceroy — Iroquois Ravage Frontier — Treachery of Le Rat (Kon- 
diaronk) -^ Massacre of Lachine, 1689, 147 

CHAPTER XIL 
frontenac's second administration. 

Abenaquis Ravages — Massacres of Corlaer, Salmon Falls, and Casco Bay, 1690 

— Sir Wm. Phips Captures Port Royal — Repulsed at Quebec — St. Castine 

— Fall of Fort Pemaquid — Villebon on the St. John — D'Iberville in New- 
foundland and Hudson's Bay — Treaty of Ryswick, 1697 — Death of 
Frontenac, 1698, 155 

CHAPTER XIII. 

" QUEEN ANNE'S WAR." 

De Calliferes — Detroit Founded, 1702 — Vandreuil — Massacres of Deerfield and 
Haverhill — Port Royal Captured, 1710 — Sir Hovenden Walker's Disastrous 
Attempt against Quebec, 1711 — The Treaty of Utrecht, 1713 — Charlevoix 

— Rasles — Death of Vaudreuil — The V^rendryes, .... 170 



COXTEJSFTS. 9 

CHAPTER XIV. 
LOUISBURG — J)V QUESNE. 

Pepperell's Conquest of Louisburg, 1745 — Death of D'Anville and D'Estonmelle 

— Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle Restores Louisburg, 1748 — Halifax Founded, 
1749 — The Acadian "Neutrals" — Beau S€jour — Bigot — Fort Du Quesne 

— CoUision in the Ohio VaUey, 1754, 187 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 

Convention of Britisb Colonists at Albany — William Johnson — British Naval 
Victories — Braddock's Defeat — The Expedition against Fort Niagara a 
Failure — Johnson Defeats Dieskau at Lake George — Capture of Beau S6jour 

— The Tragedy of Grand Pr6 — Expulsion of the Acadians, . . . 198 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 

The Seven Years' War begun, 1756 — Bradstreet's Gallant Exploit — Montcalm 
Captures Fort Oswego — Immense Booty — Loudon at Louisburg — Montcalm 
Reduces Fort William Henry — Massacre of Prisoners — Exhaustion of Can- 
ada — Famine — Extortion of Bigot, 210 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE CAMPAIGNS OP 1758 AND 1759. 

William Pitt — Fall of Louisburg — Abercrombie's Defeat at Ticonderoga — 
Bradstreet Captures Fort Frontenac — Fort Du Quesne Reduced — The Hero 
of Louisburg — Fall of Fort Niagara — Amherst Reduces Ticonderoga — 
Exploit and Sufferings of Major Rogers, 219 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE CONQUEST OF CANADA, 1759-1760. 

Wolfe at Quebec — The Fire-rafts — The Siege opened — Straits of the Inbabi- 
tants — Attack at Montmorenci — Wolfe's Illness — An Audacious Design — 
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham — The Death of Wolfe and Mont- 
calm — British Occupation of Quebec — Battle of Ste. Foye — French Siege 
of Quebec — English Fleet arrives — Siege raised — Amherst's Advance — 
Surrender of Montreal and Capitulation of Canada, .... 237 

CHAPTER XIX. 

BRITISH RULE — THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC. 

Beneficial Effects of the Conquest — Military Government — Punishment of 
Bigot — The Peace of Paris, 1763 — Conspiracy of Pontiac — Siege of Detroit 

— Massacres in the West — Bouquet's Victory at Bushy Run — Sir Guy 
Carleton, Governor — Law Reforms — The Quebec Act, 1764, . . 257 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Causes of the American Revolution — Concord, Lexington, Ticonderoga, and 
Bunker Hill, 1775 — American Invasion of Canada — Capture of Forts Chambly 
and St. John — Montgomery Occupies Montreal — Arnold's Wilderness Raid 

— Ineffective Siege of Quebec — Death of Montgomery — Defeat of Arnold 

— American Invasion Repulsed — Burgoyne's Surrender, 1777 — General Haldi- 
mand. Governor, 1779 — The Peace of VersaiUes, 1783 — The U. E. Loyal- 
ists, 273 

2 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXI. 
THE FOUNDING OF tfPPER CANADA. 

Lord Doreliester (Sir Guy Carleton), Governor-General, 1780 — The Constitu- 
tional Act, 1792 — Government of Upper Canada Organized — York (Toronto) 
Founded, 1795 — Major-General Hunter, Lieut.-Govemor, 1799 — Growth of 
Parties — Francis Gore, Lieut. Governor, 1806 — Judge Thorpe — Social Or- 
ganization — Education — Eeligiou, etc., . . . . i . . 288 

CHAPTEE XXII. 

LOWER CANADA — OUTBREAK OF THE WAR OF 1812-15. 

The New Constitution, 1792 — McLean's Treason — Sir James Craig, 1808-11 — 
Constitutional Crisis — Sir George Prevost — Causes of the War of 1812-15 

— The " Chesapeake " and " Shannon " — " Secret Correspondence " — War 
Declared, June 18, 1812 — Canadian Loyalty — Hull's Invasion and Eepulse 

— He Surrenders to Brock, Aug. 15, 1812 — Battle of Queenston Heights — 
Death of Brock, Oct. 13, 1812 — Dearborn's Invasion — Naval Engage- 
ments, 299 

CHAPTEE XXIII. 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 

Proctor at French Town — Capture of York and Niagara — Victories of Stony 
Creek, Beaver Dams, and Fort Meigs — Defeats of Sackett's Harbour, San- 
dusky, Lake Erie, and Moravian Town — Death of Tecumseh — ■ Victories of 
Chrysler's Farm, and Chateauguay — Burning of Niagara — Retaliation at 
Lewiston, Black Eock, and Buffalo — Sea Fights, the " Chesapeake " " Shan- 
non," etc. 312 

CHAPTEE XXIV. 

CAMPAIGN OF 1814. 

Victories of LacoUe and Oswego — Battles of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, and Fort 
Erie — Surrender of Maine — Prevost's Ee treat from Plattsburg — Capture 
of Washington — Burning of Capitol — Menace of Baltimore — Treaty of 
Ghent, December 24th — Battle of New Orleans — Valour and Patriotism of 
the Canadians, . . 328 

CHAPTEE XXV. 

AFTER THE WAR — LOWER CANADA. 
Effects of the War — Internal Development — Political Strive — Administra- 
tions of Sir John Sherbrooke, the Duke of Eichmond, and Earl of Dalhousie 

— Union of the Provinces Proposed, .341 

CHAPTEE XXVI. 

AFTER THE WAR — UPPER CANADA. 

Clergy Eeserves — The '' Family Compact " — Eobert Gourlay — The " Can- 
ada Trade Act" — Eev. Dr. Strahan — William Lyon Mackenzie — Eobert 
Baldwin — Sir Francis Bond Head, 349 

CHAPTEE XXVII. 

THE REBELLION — LOWER CANADA. 

Political Disaffection — Election Eiot — Papineau's Grievance Eesolutions — 
The Gosford Commission — Seditious Gatherings — Collision at Montreal — 
Rebels Eendezvous at the Eichelieu — Eouted by Wetherall and Sir John 
Colbome — Lord Durham — His Clement Policy and able Eeport, . 363 



CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTEK XXVIII. 

THE RKBELLION — UPPER CANADA. 

Struggle for Responsible GoTemment — Speaker Bidwell — Mackenzie Defeated 
— Rebellious Projects — Apatliy of the Government — The Rendezvous at Gal- 
lows* Hill — Death of Colonel Moodie — Dr. Rolph — Van Egmont — Attack 
on Toronto — Rout of the Rebels — Colonel McNab, . . ' . . 373 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE "patriot" war. 

Hunters' Lodges — Mackenzie at Navy Island — " The Republic of Upper 
Canada " — Colonel McNab on Niagara Frontier — Destruction of the 
" Caroline " — " Patriot " Raids — Battle of Wtadmill Point — RebeUion Sup- 
pressed, 382 

CHAPTER XXX. 

THE TJiaON OF THE CANADAS. 

Beneficial Effect of Lord Durham's Report — Hon. Charles Poulett Thompson, 
Governor-General — He Urges the Union Policy of Home Government — The 
Union Act Passed — Responsible Government Granted — Mr. Draper's Clergy 
Reserve Bill, 390 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 

The New Constitution — " Double Majority " — Municipal System — Sir Charles 
Bagot — Baldwin-Hincks Ministry — Sir Charles Metcalfe — Constitutional 
Struggle — Draper Ministry — Upper Canada — Rebellion Losses Bill, . 396 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. 

Lord Elgin — Fiscal Emancipation — Large Emigration — Baldwin-Lafontaine 
Ministry — Lower Canada — Rebellion Losses Bill — Mob Violence at Mon- 
treal — Burning of Parliament Buildings — Lord Elgin Mobbed, . . 406 

CHAPTER XXXIIL 

THE RAILWAY ERA. 

Political and Commercial Emancipation — Internal Development — Clergy 
Reserve Question — Francis Hincks — Railway Legislation — Municipal Loan 
Fund, 413 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 

Gavazzi Riots — Reciprocity Treaty — McNab-Morin Ministry — Secularization 
of Clergy Reserves — Abolition of Seigneurial Tenure — Canada Steamship 
Company — Resignation of Lord Elgin — His Death — Crimean "War, . 421 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

COALITION MINISTRY. 

Sir Edmund Walker Head — Militia Organization — The Corrigan Trial — Mr. 
John A. Macdonald — Legislative Council made Elective — Commercial 
Crisis— Representation by Population Demanded — Mr. George Brown, 430 



12 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

" REPKESENTATION BY POPULATIOX." 

T. D'Arcy McGee — Ottawa selected as Capital— The Two Days' Ministry— The 
Cartier-Macdonald Ministry — The " Double-Shufae "—" Joint Authority" 
Eesolutions — The Prince of Wales in Canada — Outbreak of American 
War, 439 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

POLITICAL CRISIS. 

Lord Monck — The "Trent" Affair — Militia Bill — Macdonald-Sicotte Ministry 

— Commercial Prosperity — Macdonald-Dorion Ministry — Alabama Pi- 
racies, 451 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 

The Tach^-Macdonald Ministry — Political Dead-lock — Coalition Ministry — 
Confederate Raids — Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences — Canadian 
.Parliament Adopts Quebec Scheme — Close of American War — Ottawa the 
Seat of Government, 458 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE FENIAN INVASION. 

Abrogation of Reciprocity Treaty — The Fenian Brotherhood — Its Plans — 
Invasion of Canada — Fight at Ridgeway — Fenians Escape — Prescott 
and Cornwall Menaced — Eastern Frontiers Crossed — The Raids Suppressed 

— Last Parliament of Old Canada — Monroe Doctrine — Fenian Trials, 469 

CHAPTER XL. 

NOVA SCOTIA, 1755 - 1834. 

Organization of Government, 1758 — The Revolutionary War — United Empire 
Loyalists — The War of 1812 - 15 — Cape Breton — Quit-rent Claims, . 482 

CHAPTER XLI. 

NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 

The " Family Compact " — Joseph Howe — Constitutional Struggle — Respon- 
sible Government Granted, 1848 — Railway Agitation — Confederation Con- 
ferences — Anti-Confederate Re-action, 490 

CHAPTER XLII. 

NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784 - 1831. 

Organisation of Government — Col. Thomas Carleton — Political Strife — 
Timber Trade — Miramichi Fire — Disputed Territories — Baltic Timber 
Dues, . 499 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

NEW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. 

Sir Alexander Campbell — Crown-land Grievance — Lemuel Allan Wilmot — 
Struggle for Responsible Government — The Boundary Dispute — The Ash- 
burton Treaty — Confederation Negotiations, 505 



COXTEXTS. 13 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

PRmCE EDWARD ISLAND. 

Early History — Divided by Lottery — Organization of Government — Quit- 
rent Claims — Evils of Absenteeism — Arbitration Scheme — Confederation 
Rejected — Railway Question — Enters Dominion — Land Question Set- 
tled, ... 513 

CHAPTER XLV. 

CONTEDEKATION ACCOMPX.ISHED. 

British North America Act — Its Provisions — Inauguration of New Constitu- 
tion — Titles of Honour — First Cabinet — Sir John Young — Anti-Confeder- 
ation Agitation — " Better Terms " Granted Nova Scotia, . . . 520 

CHAPTER XLVI. 

RIVAL FUR COMPANIES — RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 

Hudson's Bay Company — French Fur Conipany — North-west Company — 

— Fort William — Red River Settlement Planted — Fierce Rivalries,* and' Con- 
flicts — Privations and Disasters — Prosperity and Development — Council 
of Assiniboia, 528 

CHAPTER XLYII. 

THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 

Cession of North-west Territory — Hon. William Macdougall, Lieut-Governor — 
Riel's Insurrection — Insurgants Seize Fort Garry — Imprisonment of Can- 
adian Loyalists — Execution of Thomas Scott — Manitoba Act — The 
Wolseley Expedition — Collapse of the Rebellion — Last Fenian Raid — 
British Columbia Enters Dominion — Its Previous History, . . . 537 

CHAPTER XL VIII. 

CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 

The Washington Treaty — Ontario Legislation — Lord Dufferin, Governor- 
General — Geneva Award — Canada Pacific Railway — Mr. Huntington's 
Charges — Investigation Committee — Royal Commission — Debate on the 
Report — Resignation of the Ministry, 547 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 

Constitution of New Government — Dissolution of Parliament — Simultaneous 
Elections — New Pacific Railway Act — Qu 'Appelle Treaty — Religious 
Riots — New Brunswick Schoot Law Troubles — Canada at Centennial Ex- 
hibition — St. John Fire — Fishery Award — Dismissal of De Boucherville 
Ministry — The Joly Ministry — Party Riots in Montreal — Boundary Award 

— The Marquis of Lome — General Elections, 558 

CHAPTER L. 

EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS OP CANADA. 

Primary, and Higher Education in Quebec — Ontario — • Nova Scotia — New 
Brunswick — Prince Edward Island — Manitoba — British Columbia - 592 



14 ILLUSTRATIONS. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



STEEL P0BTBAIT8. 

"^Her Majesty the Queen. (Frontispiece.) 

J. His Excellency, the Earl of Dufferin, K. P., G. C. M. G., K. C. B. 

The Hon. S. L. Tilley, C. B. ; C. Z. Eakle, Esq.; John Boyd, Esq.; Alexander 
Gibson, Esq. 

1 Map of Canada. 



WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 

Page 

DigMon Rock Inscription 19 

Old Tower at Newport 19 

Christopher Columbus, ' 21 

Fleet of Columbus, 22 

Amerigo Vespucci, 24 

Sebastian Cabot, 25 

Jacques Cartier 23 

La Grande Hermine, 29 

Running a Rapid, 4 ... 39 

Making a Portage 39 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 45 

Sir "Walter Raleigh 47 

Henry Hudson 48 

Samuel Champlain, .."... 50 

Sieur de Monts, 51 

View near Orillia 61 

View on Lake Simcoe 62 

Captain John Smith, 70 

Smith and his Captors, 71 

Frontier Block-house, 97 

Oliver Cromwell, 109 

Colbert, HI 

Sault Ste. Marie Rapids, 126 

Old Stone Towers, Montreal I53 

Ancient Halbert, Montreal I54 

Old Frontier Block-house 156 

Frontier Village Palisade, I73 

Old City "Wall, Montreal, I79 

Pfere Charlevoix, 181 

Rasles' Monument at Norridgewock I84 

Sir "William Pepperell, 188 

Siege of Louisburg, 1745 189 

Benjamin Franklin, 198 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 15 

Page 

Sir William JoliDson, _ . • ' 199 

General Braddock, 199 

Fort Du Quesne, 200 

Lake George, 203 

■William Pitt, 219 

General Abercromble 223 

General Wolfe, 229 

Fort Niagara, 230 

Lord Amherst 232 

Buins of Ticonderoga, 235 

City of Quebec 238 

Siege of Quebec, 1759 241 

Old St. John's Gate, Quebec, . 24T 

St. Louis Gate, Quebec, 249 

Wolfe's Old Monument . 249 

Wolfe's New Monument 250 

Marquis de Montcalm, 251 

Wolfe's and Montcalm's Monument 252 

Ste. Foye Monument, 254 

Kichard Montgomery • • ■ • • • • • 276 

Benedict Arnold, 277 

Walls of Quebec 278 

Face of Citadel Cliff, Quebec, 279 

Marc[uis de La Fayette, 283 

Washington's Cabinet, 285 

Hope Gate, Quebec, 288 

Joseph Brant, 298 

Prescott Gate, Quebec, 300 

Niagara Frontier, 306 

Colonel De Salaberry, 324 

Battle of New Orleans 337 

Hon. Louis J. Papineau, 344 

Sir John Beverly Robinson 350 

Palace Gate, Quebec, . ■ 364 

City of Kingston 397 

Sir L. H. Lafontaine, 400 

Sir Francis Hincks, 401 

SirE. P. Tache 432 

Sir John A. Macdonald, 433 

Hon, George Brown, 435 

SirA. T. Gait 441 

Sir George E.<3artier 442 

Montreal from the Mountain, ■ 446 

Sir William Fenwick Williams , . . . . 447 

Hon. Antoine A. Dorion, ....'. 456 

Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, 468 

The* Great Eastern " Steamship 480 

Hon. Joseph Howe 490 

Sir R. Graves MacDonnell, 496 

Hon. Dr. Tupper, ■ . . 497 

Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton, N. B 510 

Sir N. F. Belleau, 624 

LordLisgar 526 

McKay's Mountain, Fort William, 530 

Kakabekah Falls 541 

Hon. A, G, Archibald, 542 

Sir Hugh Allan 552 

Hon. Alex. Mackenzie 553 



16 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

Thunder Cape, Lake Superior, 661 

Post-Offlce and Bank, Montreal, 573 

New Custom-House, Toronto 674 

PoBt-Office, Toronto 674 

Young Men's Christian Association Building, Montreal 575 

Union Station, Toronto, , 676 

St. James' Cathedral, Toronto, 676 

Metropolitan Church, Toronto 677 

Jarvis Street Baptist Church, Toronto 677 

Market Block, St. John, N. B., 682 

The Marquis of Lome 590 

Toronto University 692 

Normal School, Toronto 698 

College Avenue, Toronto 698 

Knox College, Toronto 699 

Seminary, Yarmouth, N. S 602 

University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, , . 604 




, _ Wfle^/f.^ r , / r/Minjii'iin ^; 

•OSWEGO A^,/,^,,„^; I yi>,nu/nu/ 



-No: S i' 




^^ 



2 t|ff® < JX4>/, ,V/'«^/y • ALBANY , (-/ tl ^ J 

' J. iV , F 7 . iU''i 



.tV'^ i 









4^ 



^ ^/wsWrn/ceB M/ 

1 1 5 \jnv^. M ecit fr. Jtv GrcemiyioK 




HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE DISCOVERY OF MIEEICA. 

Ancient Traditions — Irish and Welsli Claims — The Norsemen Colonize Green- 
land and Discover America in the Tenth Century — Trade with India — Diaz 
Discovers the Cape of Good Hope, 1486 — Columhus Discovers San Salvador, 
1492 — His further Discoveries, Misfortunes, and Death — Vespucci — Da 
Gama. 

FEOM very ancient times there were traditions of the exist- 
ence of a Western World. Hesiod sang of the fabled 
gardens of the Hesperides, and Plato wrote of the vast island 
of Atlantis, far beyond the Pillars of Hercules, or Straits of 
Gibraltar. Phoenician and Carthaginian explorers reported 
the discovery of a fair and fertile country beyond the Western 
wave. These strange lands, however, were probably the 
Canary, Cape Verde, or Azores islands, or possibly even the 
famed Tin Islands of Great Britain. The Thule mentioned by 
Pytheas, a Greek mariner of about the time of Alexander the 
Great, was probably the island of Iceland, which, there is rea- 
son to believe, was known at a very early period. 

The Irish and the Welsh have also laid claim to the discovery 
of the continent of America. Madoc, a legendary Welsh prince 
of the twelfth century, is recorded by the bards to have returned 
from a voyage of exploration with marvellous accounts of 
strange lands beyond the sunset. Many vessels, it is said, 
were fitted out to accompany him upon a second voyage, but 
they were never heard of again. The non-maritime character 
of the Welsh of that period, however, invalidates the veracity 
of this story. 

3 . [17] 



13 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

TTpon much hotter grounds rest the claims of the Norsemen, 
of having, first of the European race, visited this Western 
World. Tli(;se brave ohl sc^i-kings, swarming out of the 
Blorniy Nortli, early sul)ducd a large part of England, Belgium, 
and Noi-niandy ; and, under Robert Guiscard, in the eleventh 
contury, made tlicmsolves masters of Sicily and Southern Italy. 
Tn the y(>ar 874, a strong colony of these adventurous spirits 
cmigr.'ili'd from Norway to Iceland, six hundred miles distant in 
the wild northern sea ; and in the year 1874 was celebrated the 
niill(MiiiiMl anuivcrsnry of the colony then planted. 

it is only one hundred and sixty miles from the west coast of 
Iceland to the east coast of Greenland, and this distance was 
soon traversed .by the adventurous barks * of the Norsemen. 
Icelandic sagas record, that in the year 985, Erik the Red, with 
twenly-live vessels, set sail for Greenland. With only fourteen 
of tliese ho doubled Cape Farewell, and planted a settlement at 
Eriksliord, on the west coast. For four hundred years Green- 
land continued to be a See of Rome, with a succession of seven- 
teen Christian bishops. At one time there were more than 
ihree hundred farms and villages in this now inhospitable 
region. 

The sagas further record, that in the year 996, Biarne Her- 
julfson, a Norse navigator, sailing from Iceland to Greenland, 
was driven by a storm as far west as Newfoundland or Labra- 
dor. No landing was eUoctod upon the low-lying, forest-clad 
shores ; but the news of their discovery created a deep interest 
among the adventurous Icelanders. In the year 1000, there- 
fore, Ijoif Erikson, with a company of live and thirty^men, set 
sail from Greenland to follow up the discovery of Ilerjulfson. 
They first reached an island, supposed to be Newfoundland, to 
which they gave the name of Ilolluland, and next, a wooded 
coast, i)r()l)ably Nova Scotia, which they called ]Markhmd. Sail- 
ing southward for two days, they again sighted land about the 

* Soino of tlioso Norso vessels were not. inadequate to standing a rongli 
sea. Tlie koel of King Olaf s '* Long Serpent '' was one liundrod and forty 
feet iu length. IIo had two vessels, capable of carrying two hundred men 
eaoli. 



DISCOVERT OF AMERICA. 



19 



latitude of Massachusetts. To this pleasant country, mild as 
compared with their snowy Greenland, they gave the name, on 
account of the abundance of wild-grape vines, of Vniland. 
Here they wintered, and, in the spring, bore back to Greenland 
the tidings of their discovery. 

The following year, 1002, Thorwald, the brother of Leif 
Erikson, with a crew of thirty men, came to Vinland, and 
after three years, was killed in a skirmish with the natives, the 
first victim of the long and bloody contest between the red race 
and the white for the possession of the continent.* 

In the year 1007, 



the sagas record, 
Thorfinn Karlsefne, 
a rich Icelander, with 
his wife, Gudrid, and 
a company of one 
hundred and fifty-one 
men and seven wo- 
men, planted a colony 
in Vinland. A num- bighton rock inscription. 

ber of cattle and sheep were brought from Greenland, and 
efforts were made to establish a permanent settlement. Hos- 
tilities with the natives, however, compelled the abandonment 




* In 1831, there was found, near Fall Eiver, Massachusetts, a skeleton, encased 
in rust-corroded armour. This skeleton, sanguine antiquarians have thought 
to be possibly a relic of Thorwald 
Erikson. Associating it with the old 
round tower at Newport, shown in the 
engraving, for which a Norse origin 
is claimed, the poet Longfellow has 
made it the subject of one of his most 
delightful ballads : — 

" Three weeks we westward bore, 
And when the storm was o'er, 
Cloud-like we saw the shore 

Stretching to leeward ; 
There for my lady's bower 
Built I the lofty tower, 
Which to this very hour, 

Stands looking seaward." old tower at Newport. 




20 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

of the effort at the end of three years.* From a son of Thor- 
finn, born in Vinland, Danish genealogists trace the lineal de- 
scent of the celebrated sculptor, Bertel* Thorwaldsen. The 
planting of subsequent colonies is recorded by the sagas, but 
they were all eventually expelled by the natives, or wasted by 
famine or disease. The credibility of these documents is ad- 
mitted by competent critics, and is confirmed by the contem- 
porary authority of Adam of Bremen, who records, from the 
testimony of the Danes, the discovery and settlement of Vinland, 
beyond the Atlantic Ocean. f 

Several causes conspired to obliterate the memory of those 
Norse colonies in Yinland and Greenland. Conflicts with the 
natives, and the attacks of pirate fleets, destroyed the organiza- 
tion of the colonies, and caused the abandonment of the see of 
Greenland in 1409. The awful pestilence, known as the Black 
Death, which, in the fourteenth century, desolated Europe, so 
greatly reduced the population of the Scandinavian countries, 
and interrupted commercial intercourse, that those remote col- 
onies could no longer be recruited, and eventually passed out 
of mind. 

But the forgotten discoveries of the Norsemen do not lessen 
the glory of Columbus for his re-discovery of the Western Con- 
tinent. His was no less the commanding genius that wrested 
its secret from the bosom of the sea, and revealed to the aston- 
ished eyes of Europe a new world. He was not the first to 
believe that the earth was round. Ptolemy had long before 

* The remarkable Dighton Eock Inscription in Massachusetts, shown in the 
engraving, is considered by some archiBologists to be the record, in runic 
characters, of the colony of Thorfinn Karlsefne. The rock is eleven feet in 
length by four feet and a half high, and consists of a mass of gray granite 
lying on the sands of the Taunton River, "which partly covers it at every tide. 
The figures are rudely carved, and partially obliterated near the base by the 
action of the water. Professor Eafn, of- Copenhagen, interprets these thus : 
" Thorfinn, with one hundred and fifty-one Norse seafaring men, took posses- 
sion of this land." 

t There is also evidence extant which indicates, that about the year 1390, Nicolo 
Zeno, a Venetian navigator, visited Greenland, and there learned the existence 
of lands to the southwest, supposed to be Newfoundland and the main-land of 
America. 



DISCOVERT OF AMERICA. 21 

demonstrated this and liad measured the length of a degree on 
its surface ; and in the first English book ever written, Sir John 
Mandeville repeats the demonstration, and approximately cal- 
culates the circumference of the earth*. These truths, however, 
led to no important discovery till a great mind arose to put 
them to a practical test. Columbus lived in a period of remark- 
able maritime adventure. The rich commerce with the East 
in gold and silver and precious stones, in ivory, silks, and costly 
spices, had stimulated the desire to find a shorter way of access 
to India— the land of those coveted treasures— than the tedious 
caravan r6ute through the Syrian deserts. The invention of 
the mariner's compass, and the increased knowledge of astron- 
omy and navigation encouraged the efforts to seek this distant 
land by sea. With this design the Portuguese had extended 
their voyages along the African coast, till at length, in 1486, 
Bartolomeo Diaz reached the southern point of that continent, 
which was named, as an augury of the long-sought discovery, 
the Cape of Good Hope. 

Christopher Columbus now en- 
deavoured to solve, by a new method, 
the great maritime problem of the 
ase. He was mistaken, however, 
concerning the size of the earth, but 
not with regard to its shape. He be- 
lieved it to be not more than ten or 
twelve thousand miles in circumfer- 
ence. He therefore concluded that 
by sailing westward about three 
thousand miles he would reach the codimeus. 

golden strand of India. To accom- 
plish this became the absorbing purpose of his life. 

Columbus was born in that 'cradle of maritime adventure, the 
port of Genoa. His own inclination led him early to follow the 
sea. For twenty years he traversed the Mediterranean and 
and Atlantic seaboard, and even made a voyage as far as dis- 

* The Voiage and Travaile of Sir Jolin Maundeville, Kt., A. D. 1356. 




22 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



tant Iceland. Here he probably heard traditions of the former 
discovery of a land beyond the Western Sea. He was con- 
firmed in his convictions by the writings of learned geographers 
and travellers, and by the strange products of unknown countries 
cast by western gales upon the shores of Europe. For twenty 
years he cherished his grand design, and for ten years he went 
from court to court — to Genoa, Portugal, and Spain — seeking 
to inspire confidence like his own, and to obtain an outfit for 
his cherished enterprise. After many disheartening rebuffs, 
delays, and disappointments from bigot monks and faithless 
monarchs, when impoverished and almost despairing, the gen- 
erous Isabella of Castile became his patroness, pledging even 
her crown jewels for the supjport of his project. But the means 

thus furnished were strange- 
ly inadequate to the magni- 
tude of the task under- 
taken — only three small 
vessels and one hundred 
and twenty men. With an 
unfaltering faith in what he 
believed to be his provi- 
dential mission Columbus 
claimed, and was promised by the Sovereigns of Spain, the 
office of Admiral of all the lands to be discovered, and one-tenth 
of the profit of all their merchandise. 

After solemn religious rites, on Friday, August 3d, 1492, 
Columbus and his companions set forth on their memorable 
voyage. . Leaving the Canary Islands on the 6th of Septem- 
ber, they sailed steadily westward for five and thirty days. The 
mysterious trade-winds seemed to the sailors to waft them 
remorselessly onward to some dread unknown. The appalling 
distance they had travelled, the alarming variations of the com- 
pass which occurred, the strange portents of a sea of weeds that 
almost impeded their progress, and of a fierce storm that fol- 
lowed, aroused in the disaffected crews dark conspiracies and 
turbulent mutinies. But, with the majesty of a great spirit 
full of faith, Columbus overruled their coward minds. But 




FLEET OP COLUMBUS. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 23 

even his courage at length proved unavaihng against their tur- 
bulent fears, and he was compelled to promise that if land were 
not discovered in three days, he would abandon his life-project. 
But within the allotted time, on the night of October the 11th, 
lights were seen by the eager watchers, moving amid the 
darkness, and the joyous cry of " Land ! land ! " rang from ves- 
sel to vessel. "With the dawn of the morning, the New World 
lay revealed to European eyes. The discoverers eagerly dis- 
embarked upon the virgin strand, and, with tears and thanks to 
Heaven, kissed the ground. With devout prayers and hymns 
of praise, Columbus took possession of the new-found regions 
in the name of God, and of his sovereign mistress, Isabella of 
Castile. 

The land proved to be one of the Bahama Islands, and was 
reverently named San Salvador. After visiting several of the 
neighbouring islands, designated, in accordance with his erro- 
neous geographical theory, the West Indies, Columbus returned 
to Spain, to proudly lay at his sovereigns' feet the dominion of 
a new world. He was crowned with the highest honours, and 
the naval resources of the kingdom were placed at his disposal. 
With seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men, he speedily 
sailed again to prosecute his discoveries in these unknown lands. 
In successive voyages he explored the West Indian archipelago 
and the adjacent main-land. But calumny, envy, and malice 
pursued his steps, and the discoverer of a new world was dis- 
possessed of his authority, and sent back in chains to the 
ungrateful country which, beyond the dreams of avarice, he 
had enriched. Broken in health, bowed in spirit, impoverished 
in estate, stricken with the weight of seventy years, neglected 
by the soverign whom he had so faithfully served — his noble 
benefactress, Isabella, no longer lived to protect him — this 
great man died at Seville, May 20th, 1506. As if his 
remains could find a fit resting-place only in the new lands 
which he had discovered, they were conveyed in 1536 to the 
island of Santo Domingo, and in 1796, with great pomp, to 
Havana, witliin whose cathedral they now repose. 

But the greatest wrong done to Columbus was that which 



24 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 




VESPUCCI. 



defrauded liim of the honour of giving the name to that new 

world which he had found. Of 
this he was deprived by one of 
the least worthy of the numerous 
adventurers who followed the 
path of exploration which he 
revealed. Amerigo Yespucci, a 
Florentine navigator, gave to the 
world the first written narrative 
of the wonderful discoveries in 
the western seas. It is claimed, 
though erroneously, that he, 
first of European navigators, 
reached the main-land ; hence his 
name is identified forever with the Western Continent.* 

The coast of India, the chief object of the adventurous voyages 
of discovery of this period, was first reached by the Portuguese 
navigator, Vasco da Gama, in 1498. Bounding the stormy south- 
ern promontory of Africa, the superstitious mariner imagined 
that he beheld the awful Spirit of the Cape hovering in the air. 
Boldly pressing onward through unknown seas, discovering 
strange lands and islands, he at length reached the long-sought 
strand of India. The revolution in commerce thus brought about 
led to the commercial decline of the maritime republics of the 
Mediterranean, which had previously been the chief agents of 
the lucrative oriental trade. The adventures of Da Gama are 
commemorated by the poet Camoens, in the " Lusiad," the 
earliest epic of modern Europe. 



* He did not reach Brazil till 1501. Cabot had previously, 1497, disembarked 
on the main-land of North America. 



EARLY EXPLORATION, 



25 



CHAPTER II. 



EAELY EXPLOEATION. 

John Cabot discovers Labrador and Newfoundland, 1497 — Sebastian Cabot's 
explorations — Corter^al — De Lfery — Verrazzani — Jacques Cartier discoYers 
tbe St. Lawrence, 1534 — Visits Stadacona and Hocbelaga — Names Mont 
Eoyal — Winters at Stadacona — Suiferings from Scurvy — Eoberval, Viceroy, 
1541 — Cartier his Lieutenant — Founds Charlesbourg — Eoberval -winters 
at Cape Eouge — Mutiny and Scurvy — The Eobervals founder at sea, 1549. 

TIIE discovery of America was the beginning of a new era 
in the world. It led to the development of great mari- 
time enterprise. The western nations of Europe were eager to 
take possession of the new-fomid continent. Numerous voy- 
ages of exploration were projected by adventurous spirits 
under the patronage of their respective 
sovereigns. England was even then lay- 
ing the foundations of her subsequent 
maritime supremacy. Merchants of for- 
eign countries were welcomed to her 
shores and found both protection and pa- 
tronage. Among these were John Cabot 
and his sons, a Venetian family doing 
business in the ancient seaport town of 
Bristol. Henry VII., king of England, 
eager to share the advantage of the wonderful discoveries that 
were startling the world, in 1496 gave a commission of explo- 
ration to John Cabot, on the condition that one-fifth of all the 
1497. profits accruing should go to the crown. The following 
year, with his son Sebastian, afterwards a famous mariner, he 
sailed from the port of Bristol for the purpose of reaching, by 
a western voyage, the kingdom of Cathay, or China. Having 
sailed seven hundred leagues, he sighted the coast of Labra- 
dor, which he concluded to be part of the dominions of the 
Grand Cham. He lauded, planted in the soil of the New 

4 




SEEASTIAK CABOT. 



26 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

t 

World the banner of England, and named the country Prima 
Vista. He was thus the first discoverer of the Continent of 
America, fourteen months before Columbus, in his third voy- 
age, beheld the main-land. Two days afterward, he reached 
a large island, probably Newfoundland, which, in honour of the 
day, he called St. John's Island. Having sailed along the coast 
of North America for three hundred leagues, he returned to 
Bristol. His discovery awakened great interest. He was 
awarded a liberal pension, and the king gave him authority to 
impress six English ships and to enlist volunteers, " and theym 
convey and lede to the londe and lies of late founde by 
the seid John." For some unknown reason this expedition 
did not take place, and John Cabot disappears from the records 
of the times. "He gave England a continent, and no one 
knows his burial-place."* 

The following year, however, his son Sebastian, with two 
1498. vessels, endeavoured to reach China and Japan by a 
northwest passage. He sailed as far north as Hudson's Straits, 
the daylight in the early part of July being there continuous. 
Prevented by icebergs from proceeding further, he sailed south- 
ward, skirting the coast of North America as far as Chesapeake 
Bay. He landed at several places, and partially explored the 
fertile country he had discovered, with its strange inhabitants, 
clad in skins and using barbaric weapons of stone and copper, 
but he was greatly disappointed to find that he had not reached 
the wealthy and populous countries of the Asiatic Continent. 

It was in virtue of these discoveries that Great Britain laid 
claim to the possession of the greater part of North America. 
In a subsequent voyage in 1517, under the patronage of Henry 
VIII., Cabot penetrated the bay to which, a hundred years 
later, Hudson gave his name. Afterwards, in the service of 
the Emperor Charles V. , he explored the coast of South Amer- 
ica as far as the La Plata. 

In the early part of the sixteenth century the Portuguese 
sent an expedition to explore, and take possession of, a portion 

* This account of John Cabot, wMch differs from that generally given, is 
hased upon the latest and best authorities. 



EARLY EXPLORATION. 27 

of tlie new-found continent. In 1501, Gaspard Corter^al, with 
two vessels, sailed from Lisbon. He skirted the rock-bound 
coast of North America, observing the fine harbours, the excel- 
lent shipbuilding material of the forests, and the finny wealth of 
the ocean. The name Labrador — Terra Zaborador, land which 
may be cultivated— is a memorial of this visit. With a perfidy 
that disgi-aced the Christian name, he carried off fifty-seven of 
the natives on his own vessel and his consort, for the purpose 
of selling them as slaves. But a terrible retribution soon over- 
took him. He, himself, with his ship and crew and fifty of the 
mihappy victims of his treachery, sank in mid-ocean, and were 
never heard of again. His consort alone escaped to tell the 
dreadful story. 

The rich fisheries of the Banks of Newfoundland were soon 
visited by the hardy Breton, Basque, and Norman fishermen. 
The name of Cape Breton, found on the oldest maps, is a 
memorial of those early voyages. Denys and Aubert, French 
sailors, explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the years 1506 
and 1508. In 1518, Baron De Lery, with a company of colo- 
nists, landed on Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, but 
were compelled by its inhospitable climate to abandon it. The 
cattle that he left, however, multiplied remarkably, and their 
progeny have frequently furnished subsistence to shipwrecked 
mariners. 

After the discovery of the rich harvest of the sea that might 
be gathered on the Banks of Newfoundland, those valuable fish- 
eries were never abandoned. As early as 1517, no less than 
fifty French, Spanish, and Portuguese vessels were engaged in 
this industry. The spoils of ocean froni the fisheries of the 
New World formed an agreeable addition to the scanty Lenten 
fare of the Koman Catholic countries of Europe. 

France had as yet done little in exploring or occupying any 
portion of the boundless continent, whose wealth was enriching 
its European rivals. Francis I. resolved to claim a portion of 
the prize. " Shall the kings of Spain and Portugal," he ex- 
claimed, " divide all America between them, without allowing 
me any share ? I would like to see the clause in Father Adam's 



28 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 



will that bequeaths that vast inheritance to them." He, there- 
fore, in the year 1523, dispatched Verrazzani, a Florentine nav- 
igator, on a voyage of discovery. Skirting the American sea- 
board northward from the Chesapeake, he laid claim to the 
entire region previously explored by the Cabots, for Francis I., 
under the designation of New France. The rival claims arising 
from these explorations were the grounds of the long and bloody 
conflict between Great Britain and France for the j)ossession of 
a broad continent. * The failure to discover gold or silver, and 
the military disasters of France, prevented for some time fur- 
ther exploration beyond the Atlantic. 

The real discov- 
erer of Canada was 
Jacques Cartier, a na- 
tive of the ancient 
seaport of St. Malo, 
for centuries the nurs- 
,ery of a hardy race 
of mariners. In 1534, 
when France had 
somewhat rallied from 
its disasters, fresh 
enterprises in the 
New World were un- 
dertaken. On the 
20th of April in that 
year, Cartier sailed 
from St. Malo with 
two small vessels of 
about sixty tons each, 
and a company, in 
all, of one hundred 
and twenty-two men. 
In twenty days ' he 

* The name Norem'bega was given to the River Penobscot and the regions 
adjacent. It was fabled that a stately city of the same name was situated 
some twenty leagues up the river. Champlain, seventy years after, eagerly 
sought it, hut found nothing hut an old and moss-grown cross in the depths of 
the wilderness. 




3ACQTIES CAETIEB. 



EARLY EXPLORATION. 29 

reached the coast of Newfoundland, where he was detained 
ten days by the ice. Sailing through the Straits of Belle Isle, 
he scanned the barren coast of Labrador, and almost circum- 
navigated the island of Newfoundland. Turning southwest- 
ward, he passed the Magdalen Islands, abounding in birds, 
flowers, and berries. On a resplendent day in July, he entered 
the large bay to which, on account of the intense heat, he gave 
the name Des Chaleurs. Landing at the rocky headland ot\ 
Gaspe, he erected a large cross bearing the lily shield of France, 
and took possession of the country in the name of his sover- 
eign, Francis I. He inspired such confidence in the natives, 
that one of the chiefs allowed his two sons to return with him 
to France. Learning from these the existence of a great river, 
leading so far into the interior that ' ' no man had ever traced 
it to its source," he sailed up the Gulf of St. Lawrence till he 
could see the land on either side. The season being advanced, 
he resolved to return, postponing further exploration till the 
following summer. 

The successful voyage very favourably 
impressed the king, and three vessels,* 
better equipped and manned than the first, 
were furnished, for the purpose, as the 
commission ran, *' of forming settlements 
in the country and of opening, traffic with 
the native tribes." Several of the young 
nobility of France joined the expedition. 
On Whit-Sunday, 1535, Cartier and his ^^ grakde hermine. 
companions reverently attended high mass in the venerable 
cathedral of St. Malo. In the religious spirit of the age, they 
received the Holy Sacrament, and the benediction of the bishop 
upon their undertaking. The little squadron, dispersed by ad- 
verse winds, did not reach the mouth of the St. Lawrence till 
the middle of July. On the 10th of August, the festival 1535. 
of St. Lawrence, Cartier entered a small bay, to which he gave 

*La Grande Rermine, of one hundred and twenty tons, La Petite Hei-mine, of 
sixty tons, and VErmerillon, a smaller vessel, with a company of one hundred 
and ten men. 




30 HISTORY OF CAN-ADA. 

the name of the samt, since extended to the entire gulf and 
river. Passing the gloomy gorge of the Saguenay, and sailing 
on beneath lofty bluffs jutting out into the broad river, on the 
7th of September he reached the Island of Orleans, covered 
with wild grapes, which he therefore named Isle of Bacchus. 
Here he received a friendly visit from Donnacona, an Algon- 
quin chief, with five hundred of his followers. Seven days 
after, having resolved to winter in the country, the little squad- 
ron dropped anchor at the mouth of the St. Charles, where 
stood the Indian town of Stadacona, beneath the bold cliff now 
crowned with the ramparts of Quebec. 

Eager to explore the noble river, Cartier advanced with fifty 
men in his smallest vessel. Arrested by a sand-bar at Lake 
St. Peter, he took to his boats, with thirty of his companions, 
and pressed onward, watching with delight the ever-shifting 
landscape of primeval forest, now gorgeous with autumnal 
foliage, and the stately banks of the broad, swift river. On 
the 2d of October, he reached the populous Indian town of 
Hochelaga, nestling beneath the wood-crowned height, to 
which he gave the name of Mont Royal, now Montreal. The 
friendly natives thronged the shore by hundreds, and received 
the pale-faced strangers with manifestations of the utmost de- 
light. With lavish hospitality they heaped their boats with 
presents of fish and maize. An Indian chief, or as Cartier 
quaintly describes him, " one of the principal lords of the said 
city,"* with several of his braves, came forth to courteously 
receive the strangers and conduct them to the town. This was 
a circular enclosure, situated amid fields of ripened corn. A 
triple row of wooden palisades surrounded it. On the inside 
were galleries for the defenders, with stores of stones ready to 
be hurled on the heads of any assailants. In the centre was an 
open square, " a stone's throw in width." Around it were 
some fifty large dwellings, about fifty feet wide by one hundred 
and fifty feet in length, framed with saplings and covered with 
bark, each accommodating several families. The inmates 

* " . . . lu'n des principaulx seigneurs de la dicte ville." 



EARLY EXPLORATIOX. 31 

swarmed around the new comers, gazing with wonder at their 
bearded faces, glittering armour and strange attire. 

Soon an ample feast was provided for the white guests. 
After this an aged and crippled chief, and a crowd of blind and 
maimed and sick persons were brought to the perplexed com- 
mander, "as if," he says, *'a God had come down to save 
them." Moved wdth pity he read from the Gospel the story of 
the passion of the Saviour, made the sign of the cross, and 
offered a prayer for the souls as well as the bodies of the 
savages. With a flourish of trumpets and a liberal gift of 
knives, beads, and trinkets, the strange scene came to a close. 

Having ascended the neighbouring mountain, Cartier and his 
companions surveyed the magnificent panorama of forest and 
river stretching to the far horizon; a scene now studded with 
toTvms and spires, farms and villages, and busy with the 
thousand activities of civilized life. From the natives he 
learned the existence, far to the west and south, of inland seas, 
broad lands, and mighty rivers — an almost unbroken solitude, 
yet destined to become the abode of great nations. 

After three days' agreeable intercourse with the friendly red- 
men, Cartier returned to Stadacona, which he reached on the 
eleventh of the month. Having protected their vessels by a 
stockaded enclosure, mounted with cannon, the French pre- 
pared, as best they could, for the winter, which proved of un- 
usual severity. They were neither adequately clothed nor pro- 
visioned. Scurvy of a malignant type appeared. Eeligious 
processions, vows and litanies were unavailing to stay the 
j)lague. By the month of April, twenty-six of the little com- 
pany had died and were buried in the snow. The neighbouring 
Indians, who, " hardy as so many beasts," prowled half-naked 
round the fort, prescribed for the recovery of the sick an infu- 
sion of spruce boughs, to whose efficacy Cartier attributed their 
restoration to health. The cruel winter slowly wore away, and 
when the returning spring released the imprisoned ships, the 
energetic commander prepared to return to France. Before 
his departure he was guilty of an act of perfidy that ill requited 
the kindness of the natives. Donnacona and nine of his chiefs 



32 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

being lured on board his vessels, they were made prisoners and 
carried as trophies of the expedition to France.* The kid- 
napped Indians never again saw their native land, all of them 
dying before another expedition returned, having been previ- 
ously baptized into the Eoman Catholic faith, with great pomp, 
in the grand old cathedral of Eouen. 

The religious wars with Charles Y. now for four years 
absorbed the attention and exhausted the treasury of Francis I. 
At length, in 1540, the Sieur De Koberval, a wealthy noble of 
Picardy, obtained the appointment of Viceroy of New France, 
and organized a colonizing expedition. Cartier, as his lieu- 
tenant, sailed with five ships the following spring, and reached 
1541. Stadacona in the month of August. The natives, at 
first friendly, became less so on finding that Donnacona and his 
companions had not returned. Cartier therefore removed to 
Cape Rouge, three leagues up the river, laid up three of his 
vessels, sent two back to France for reinforcements, built a 
fort, to which he gave the name of Charlesbourg, and began to 
cultivate the soil. He again visited Hochelaga, and explored 
the country for gold and precious stones, but found only some 
glistening scales of mica, and some quartz crystals on the cliff 
still known as Cape Diamond. After a gloomy winter, having 
1543. heard nothing from Roberval, and the Indians proving 
unfriendly, without waiting for orders, he sailed for France. 
At St. John's, Newfoundland, he met Eoberval, with three ships 
and two hundred colonists, of both sexes. Cartier and his com 
pany were commanded to return, but, disheartened by their 
disasters and sufferings, they refused to do so, and, escaping 
under cover of night, continued their homeward voyage. 

Roberval proceeded on his course and landed his little 
colony at Cape Rouge. A capacious structure, '* half barrack, 
half castle," was soon built for their accommodation and de- 
fence. The winter was a time of suffering and disaster. Over 
sixty men perished by cold, by famine, or by scurvy. The 



* In 1843, a portion of one of Cartier's vessels was discovered in the bed of 
the St. Charles Kiver, where it had been abandoned three hundred and seven 
years before. 



EARLY EXPLORATION. 33 

Indians, too, were unfriendly ; and the colonists, most of 
whom were convicts, proved so insubordinate, that the Gov- 
ernor had to hang some, and scourge or imprison others. In 
the spring, with seventy men, Eoberval attempted to 1543. 
explore the interior, but without beneficial results, and with 
the loss of eight men by drowning. In the fall of this year, 
Cartier was again sent to Canada, to order Eoberval's return. 
He wintered for the third time in the country, and finally left 
it in May, 1544, conveying with him the remains of the ill- 
fated colony, and his name henceforth disappears from history. 
Five years later, on the return of peace, Eoberval and his 
brother organized another colonizing expedition to Canada, but 
the fleet was never heard of after it sailed, and probably foun- 
dered by encounter with icebergs. Thus ended in disastrous 
failure all the early expeditions to New France. 
5 



34 - BISTORT OF CANADA. 



CHAPTEE m. 

THE INDIAN TEIBES. 

The Mouncl-Builders — Their Superior Art, Manufactures, and Social Organiza- 
tion — Their probable Origin and Fate — The Modern Indians, probably an 
intrusive Asiatic Race — Their Physical Aspect — Their Agriculture, Art, 
Dress, and Ornaments — Their Wars, Craft, Cruelty, and Stoicism — Their 
Councils, Oratory, and Treaties — Wampum Belts — Their Eeligious Beliefs 
— Their Alliances — The Fur-Trade — Tribal Divisions — Present Condition. 

THE name Indians, given to the native races of America, 
commemorates the mistaken idea of its discoverers, that 
they had reached the shores of the Asiatic continent. A short 
account of these races, and of their character, customs, and tribal 
divisions, is necessary, in order to understand the long and 
cruel conflict between the white man and the red for the pos- 
session of the New World. 

All over the North American continent, from Lake Superior 
to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Alleghanies to the Rocky 
Mountains, are found the remains of an extinct and pre-historic 
people. These remains consist, for the most part, of earthen 
mounds, often of vast extent and almost countless numbers. 
Hence their unknown creators are called the Mound-Builders. 
These strange structures may be divided into two classes : En- 
closures and Mounds proper. The ciiief purpose of the En- 
closures seems to have been for defence, — the formation, as it 
were, of a fortified camp. They were sometimes of great size, 
covering many hundreds of acres. They were surrounded by 
parapets of earth, in the form of circles, octagons, or similar 
figures. They were evidently designed for protection against 
an intrusive race, and formed a line of forts from the Alle- 
ghanies to the Ohio. Another striking form of enclosure, is 
that designated Animal Mounds. These are outlines in earth- 
work, of low relief, of sacred animals — probably the totems of 



INDIAN TRIBES. 35 

different tribes, as the turtle, lizard, serpent, alligator, eagle, 
buffalo, and the like.* 

The mounds proper are of much less extent, but of greater 
elevation. Some, there is reason to believe, from the presence 
of charred bones, charcoal, trinkets, etc., were used as altars 
for the burning of sacrifice, and perhaps for the offering of 
human victims. Others are known as Temple Mounds. These 
were chiefly truncated pyramids, with graded approaches to 
their tops, which are always level, and are sometimes fifty feet 
in height. In Mexico and Central America this class is repre- 
sented by the Teocallis, — vast structures, faced with flights of 
steps, and surmounted by temples of stone. 

More numerous than any are the Sepulchral Mounds. They 
always contain the remains of one or more bodies, accompanied 
by trinkets, cups, and vases, probably once containing food pro- 
vided by living hands, for the departed spirit faring forth, as 
was fondly believed, on its unknown journey to the happy 
hunting-grounds beyond the sky. The size of these is gener- 
ally inconsiderable ; but they sometimes attain great magnitude, 
in which case they probably cover the remains of some distin- 
guished chief, f Sometimes earthen vessels are found, contain- 
hig charred human remains, indicating the practice of crema- 
tion among the Mound-Builders. 

But there are other evidences of the comparatively high state 
of civilization of those remarkable people. There are numer- 
ous remains of their art and manufactures. Among these are 
flint arrow-heads and axes ; pestles and mortars for grinding 
corn; and pipes, frequently elaborately carved with consider- 
able artistic skill. These last often occur in the form of animal 
or human figftres, sometimes exhibiting much grotesque humour, 
and frequently executed in very intractable material. Eemains 
of closely woven textile fabrics have also been found, together 

* They are especially numerous in the valley of the Wisconsin. The " Great 
Serpent" of Adams County, Ohio, is over a thousand feet long, and the " Alli- 
gator " of Licking County is two hundred and fifty feet long and fifty feet broad. 

t One of these, known as Grave Creek Mound, in Virginia, is seventy feet ia 
height and nine hundred feet in circumference. 



36 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

with implements used in the spinning of the thread and manu- 
facture of the cloth. The potteiy and other fictile wares of 
the Mound-Builders exhibit graceful forms, elegant ornamenta- 
tion, and much skill in manufacture. On some of these the 
human face and form are delineated with much fidelity and 
grace, and the features differ widely from those of the present 
race of Indians. Copper implements, the work of this strange 
people, are also found in considerable quantities. Among these 
are knives, chisels, axes, spear and arrow heads, bracelets, and 
personal ornaments. Many of these implements exhibit on 
their surface the unmistakable traces of the moulds in which 
they were cast, showing that their manufacturers understood 
the art of reducing or, at least, of fusing metals. 

But the most striking proof of the mechanical skill of the 
Mound-Builders is their extensive mining operations on the 
south shore of Lake Superior. Here are a series of mines and 
drifts, sometimes fifty feet deep, extending for many miles 
along the shore.* In one of these was found, at the depth of 
eighteen feet, resting on oaken sleepers, a mass of native cop- 
per weighing over six tons, which had been raised five feet 
from its original bed. Nume'i'ous props, levers, ladders, and 
shovels employed in mining operations were also found. 

These old miners had become extinct long before the dis- 
covery of America, for the present race of Indians had no 
knowledge of copper when first visited by white men ; and 
trees, whose concentric rings indicated an age of four hundred 
years, have been found growing upon the accumulated rubbish 
that filled the shafts. 

The commerce of the Mound-Builders was also quite exten- 
sive. Copper from these northern mines is found widely dis- 
tributed through eighteen degrees of latitude, from Lake Su- 
perior to the Gulf of Mexico. Iron was also brought from 
Missouri, mica from North Carolina, and obsidian from Mexico. 

An examination of the crania of those pre-historic people 
scattered over a wide area, indicates, together with other evi- 

* At Ontonagon and Keweenaw Point, and at Isle Eoyal, off the nortli 
shore. 



INDIAN TRIBES. 37 

dences, that they were a mild, unwarlike race, contented to toil 
like the Egyptian serfs in the vast and profitless labours of 
mound-building. Agriculture must have received among them 
a high degree of development, in order to the maintenance of 
the populous communities by which the huge mounds were con- 
structed. Their principal food was probably maize, the most 
prolific cereal in the world. 

The question, "Who were the Mound-Builders?" only in- 
volves the investigator in the mazes of conjecture. They seem 
to have been of the same race with the ancient people of 
Mexico, Central America, and Peru. They probably came, by 
way of Behring's Strait, from the great central Asiatic plateau, 
which "has been, through the ages, the fruitful birth-place of 
nations. As they advanced towards the tropical and equatorial 
regions of the continent, they seem to have developed the 
civilization which met the astonished eyes of Cortes and 
Pizarro. Successive waves of Asiatic emigration of a fierce 
and barbarous race, apparently expelled them from the Mis- 
sissippi valley and drove them south of the Rio Grande. Prob- 
ably little will ever be known of their history unless some new 
Champollion shall arise to decipher the strange hieroglyphs 
which cover the. rocky tablets of the ruined cities of Yucatan 
and G*uatemala. 

Dr. Daniel Wilson expresses the opinion, founded largely on 
the evidence of language and architectural remains, that the 
earliest current of New World population ' ' spread through the 
islands of the Pacific, and reached the South American conti- 
nent long before an excess of Asiatic population had diffused 
itself into its own inhospitable steppes." * He also thinks that 
another wave of population reached Central America and 
Brazil by the Canaries and Antilles, and that then the intrusive 
race, from which our Indians have sprung, arrived by way of 
Behring's Strait, driving the Mound-Builders before them, f 

This intruding race was of a fierce and warlike character, 
and, continuing its nomad life, never attained to a degree of 
civilization at all comparable to that of the race which they 
* Pre-historic Man, pp. 604-605. t Ih. jyassim. 



38 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

dispossessed. They have certain common characteristics, 
though with numerous minor tribal distinctions of aspect, 
language, and customs. They were, for the most part, a tall, 
athletic people, with sinewy forms, regular features, cheek- 
bones prominent, but less angular than in the Mongolian, 
straight black hair, sometimes shaven, scanty beard, dark eyes, 
which, except when the passions are roused, are rather sluggish 
in expression, and copper-coloured skin. In some tribes, as 
the Flatheads, the artificial moulding of the skull, by means of 
pressure applied in infancy, was common. They were capable 
of much endurance of cold, hunger, and fatigue ; were haughty, 
taciturn, and stoical in their manners ; were active, cunning, and 
stealthy in war ; but in camj) were sluggish, and addicted to 
gluttonous *feasts. The women, in youth, were of agreeable 
form and feature, but through severe drudgery soon became 
withered and coarse. The high degree of health and vigour of 
the race, was jDrobably due to the large mortality of weak or 
sickly children, through the hardships of savage life. 

The agriculture of the native tribes, with slight exception, 
was of the scantiest character — a little patch of Indian corn 
or tobacco rudely cultivated near their summer cabins. Their 
chief subsistence was derived from hmiting and fishing, in 
which they became very expert. With flint-headed arrows and 
spears, and stone axes and knives, they would attack and kill 
the deer, elk, or buifalo. The necessity of following these 
objects of their pursuit to their often distant feeding-grounds, 
precluded social or political organization except within very 
narrow limits. The same cause also prevented the construction, 
with a few exceptions, of any but the rudest and simplest 
dwellings — conical wigwams of skins or birch-bark, spread 
over a framework of poles. Some of the more settled and 
agricultural communities had, however, large lodges for public 
assemblies or feasts, and even for the joint accommodation of 
several families. Groups of these lodges were sometimes sur- 
rounded by palisades, and even by strong defensive works, with ' 
heaps of stones to repel attack, and reservoirs of water to ex- 
tinguish fires kindled by the enemy. 



INDIAN TRIBES. 



39 



The triumph of Indian skill and ingenuity was the bark-canoe 
— a marvel of beauty, lightness, and strength. It was con- 
structed of birch-bark, severed in large sheets from the trees. 




RUNNING A BAPID. 



stretched over a slender framework of ribs bent into the de- 
sired form, and well gummed at the seams with pine resin. 
Kneeling in these fragile barks, and wielding a short strong 
paddle, the Indian or his squaw would navigate for hundreds 
of miles the inland waters, shooting the arrowy rapids, and 




MAKING A PORTAGE. 



even boldly launching upon the stormy lake. Where rocks or 
cataracts interrupted the ptogress, the light canoe could easily 
be carried over the ' ' portage " to the navigable waters beyond. 



40 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The Indian dress consisted of skins of wild animals, often 
ornamented with shells, porcupine quills, and brilliant pigments. 
In summer, little clothing was worn, but the body was tattooed 
and painted, or smeared with oil. When on a war expedition, 
the face and figure were bedaubed with startling contrasts of 
colour, as black, white, red, yellow, and blue. The hair was 
often elaborately decorated with dyed plumes or crests of 
feathers. Sometimes the head was shaved, all but the scalp- 
lock on the crown. The women seldom dressed their hair, and, 
except in youth, wore little adornment. Their life after mar- 
riage was one of perpetual drudgery. They tilled the fields, 
gathered fuel, bore the burdens on the march, and performed 
all the domestic duties in camp. 

The Indian wars were frequent and fierce, generally spring- 
ing out of hereditary blood-feuds between tribes, or from the 
purpose to avenge real or fancied insults or wrongs. After a 
war-feast and war-dance, in which the plumed and painted 
"braves" wrought themselves into a phrensy of excitement, 
they set out on the war-path against the object of their resent- 
ment. Stealthily gliding like snakes through the forest, they 
would lie in wait, sometimes for days, for an opportunity of 
surprising the enemy. "With a wild whoop they would burst 
upon a sleeping village and involve in iiidiscriminate massacre 
every age and either sex. Firing the inflammable huts and 
dragging off their prisoners, they would make a hasty retreat 
with their victims. Some of these were frequently adopted by 
the tribe in place of its fallen warriors ; others were reserved 
for fiendish tortures by fire or knife. One trophy they never 
neglected, if possible, to secure — the reeking scalp-lock of 
their enemy. Torn with dreadful dexterity from the skull, and 
dried in the smoke of the hut, it was worn as the hideous proof 
of the prowess of the savage warrior. When captured, they 
exhibited the utmost stoicism in the endurance of pain. Amid 
agonies of torture they calmly sang their death-song, hurling 
defiance at the foe. 

Their councils for deliberation were conducted with great 
gravity and decorum. The speakers often exhibited much 



IXDIAX TRIBES. 41 

eloquence, wit, vigour of tliouglit, and lively imagination. 
Their oratory abounded in bold and striking metaphors, and 
was characterized by great practical shrewdness. They were 
without a written language, but their treaties were ratified by the 
exchange of wampum-belts of variegated beads, having definite 
significations. These served also as memorials of the transac- 
tion, and were cherished as the historic records of the tribe. 

The Indians were deeply superstitious. Some tribes had an 
idea of a Great Spirit or Manitou, whose dwelling-place was 
the sk}', where he had provided happy hunting-grounds for his 
red children after death. Hence they were often buried vdth 
their weapons, pipes, ornaments, and a supply of food for their 
subsistence on their journey to the spirit- wo rid. Others ob- 
served a sort of fetichism — the worship of stones, plants, 
waterfalls, and the like ; and in the thunder, lightning, and 
tempest, they recognized the influence of good or evil spirits. 
The "medicine man" or conjurer, cajoled or terrified them by 
their superstitious hopes or fears. They attached great impor- 
tance to dreams and omens, and observed rigorous fasts, when 
they starved themselves to emaciation ; and glutton feasts, when 
they gorged themselves to repletion. They were inveterate 
and infatuated gamblers, and have been known to stake their 
lives upon a cast' of the dice, and then bend their heads for the 
stroke of the victor's tomahawk^ 

In the unhappy conflicts between the English and the French 
for the possession of the continent, the Indians were the cov- 
eted allies of the respective combatants. They were supplied 
with knives, guns, and ammunition, and the atrocities of savage 
were added to those of civilized warfare. The profitable trade 
in peltries early became an object of ambition to the rival na- 
tions, and immense private fortunes and public revenue were 
derived from this source. The white man's " fire-water " and 
the loathsome small-pox wasted the native tribes. The prog- 
ress of settlement drove them from their ancient hunting- 
grounds. A chronic warfare between civilization and barbar- 
ism raged along the frontier, and dreadful scenes of massacre 
and reprisal stained with blood the annals of the time. • 
6 



42 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The great Algonquin nation occupied the larger part of the 
Atlantic slope, the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the country 
around the great lakes. It embraced the Pequods and ISTarra- 
gansetts of New England, the Micmacs of Nova Scotia, the 
Abenaquis of New Brunswick, the Montagnais and Ottawas of 
Quebec, the Ojibways or Chippeways on the great lakes, and 
the Crees and Sioux of the far west. 

The Hurons and Iroquois were allied races, though for ages 
the most deadly enemies. They were more addicted to agri- 
culture than the Algonquins, and dwelt in better houses, but 
they were equally fierce and implacable. The Hurons chiefly 
occupied the county between Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Huron, 
and the northern bank of the St. Lawrence. Their principal 
settlement, till well-nigh exterminated by the Iroquois, was 
between Lake Simcoe and the Georgian Bay. 

The Iroquois or Five Nations occupied northern New York, 
from the Mohawk River to the Genesee. The confederacy 
embraced the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and 
Senecas, and was afterwards joined by the Tuscaroras from 
South Carolina. Each tribe, however, asserted its independ- 
ence, and made war or peace on its own account, as was 
shown by many a cruel raid upon Montreal or Quebec in a 
time of nominal truce with the confederacy. They were the 
most cruel and blood-thirsty of all the savage tribes — skilful in 
war, cunning in policy, and ruthless in slaughter. They were 
chiefly the allies of the British, and proved a thorn in the side 
of the French for a hundred and fifty years. The latter, 
through their missions, early acquired an ascendency over the 
Algonquin and Huron tribes. Several of the Indian children 
were educated in Catholic schools, and some of the girls even 
became nuns. 

After the British conquest of Canada, the Indians were 
gathered into reserves under military superintendents at Caugh- 
nawaga, the Bay of Quint6, Grand Eiver, Credit Eiver, Rice 
Lake, River Thames, Manitoulin and Walpole Islands, and 
elsewhere. They were supplied with annual presents of knives, 
guns', ammunition, blankets, trinkets, grain, implements, and 



INDIAN TRIBES. 43 

the like. Special efforts have been made, with marked success, 
for their education in religion, agricultural industry, and secu- 
lar learning. Many tribes have been raised from barbarism to 
Christian civilization, although a few of the old men cling to 
the faith of their fathers, and worship the Great Spirit, beat the 
conjurer's drum, and sacrifice the white dog. The reserves are 
under the charge of an Indian agent, who watches over the 
interests of the tribe, and prevents the alienation of its prop- 
erty. The Indians seem contented with their lot, though their 
natural apathy prevents the growth of industrial enterprise, 
and many of the men leave home for months on hunting or 
trapping excursions. They profess deep loyalty to the Crow^n 
and to their great ' ' White Mother " beyond the sea. 

In the new provinces of Manitoba and Keewatin, and in the 
North-west Territory are numerous tribes of plain or forest 
Indians, for whom civilization has as yet done little. They sub- 
sist chiefly by buffalo-hunting, fishing, and collecting peltries for 
the Hudson's Bay Company and other great fur traders. Mis- 
sionaries, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, have, with self- 
denying zeal, laboured for their spiritual welfare, and in many 
cases with very considerable success. Treaties have been made 
with many of these tribes, and liberal land reserves secured to 
them. 

The Indian tribes in the Pacific province of British Columbia 
are, for the most part, pagan and savage. Those on the sea- 
coast live principally by fishing, in which they exhibit great 
dexterity. They hollow out, with much patient labour, huge 
canoes from a single tree-trunk. * They also build large framed 
and bark-covered lodges, which will accommodate several fam- 
ilies. In front of these they, will often erect a lofty tree-trunk, 
carved into hideous, grotesque representations of the human 
face and figure, bedaubed with bright, crude pigments, f 

* One, at the American Centennial Exhibition, was sixty feet long, 
t Some of these are over thirty feet high, elaborately carved from top to 
bottom. 



44 HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EAELY COLONIZATION— FOUNDING OF POET EOYAL. 

Spanish and English. Colonization — Frobisher explores the Arctic Seas, 1576 — 
Magellan — Drake — Sir Humphrey Gilbert — Ealeigh's unsuccessful Colony 
at Eoanoke, 1585 — Gosnold — Hudson — De la Eoche lands Convicts at Sable 
Island — Their tragic fate — Chauvin plants a Trading Post at Tadousac, 1600 

— Champlain's first Voyage to Canada, 1603 — The Tragedy of St. Croix — 
Poutrincourt founds Port Eoyal, 1605 — Lescharbot — The "Order of the 
Good Time " — Charter cancelled — Discord at Port Eoyal — Mount Desert 

— Captain Argall. 

FOR fifty years after the failure of Roberval, there was no' 
further attempt to colonize Canada. France, engaged in 
her prolonged struggle with Spain and Austria, and convulsed 
by the civil wars of religion, had neither men nor means to 
spare for foreign settlement. 

Spain had early claimed the whole continent, from the Gulf 
1513. of MexicQ to Labrador. Balboa, from the mountains of 
Darien, had descried the Pacific, and dispelled the illusion that 
1581. America was a part of Asia. Cortez, with a handful of 
followers, had taken and sacked the populous city of Mexico.* 
Ponce de^ Leon had sought amid the evergiades of Florida a 
fountain of youth, and found an early grave. Ferdinand de 
1548. Soto had discovered the mighty Mississippi, and been 
buried beneath its waters. In 1565 was founded St. Augus- 
tine, the oldest town in America, f Admiral Coligny, the leader 
of the French Protestants, had already planted a private Hu- 

* In 1530, Spanish valour, led by Pizarro, conquered the kingdom of Peru, 
and Spanish cruelty well nigh exterminated the inhabitants. 

t The dates of the earliest settlements are as follows : — St. Augustine, 1565 ; 
Port Eoyal, 1605 ; Jamestown, 1607 ; Quebec, 1608 ; Albany, 1615 ; Plymouth, 
1620; New York, 1623 ^ Boston, 1630; Montreal, 1642; Frontenac (Kingston), 
1672; Philadelphia, 1683; Detroit, 1702; New Orleans, 1718; Halifax, 1749; 
St. John, 1783 } Toronto, 1795. 



EARLY COLONIZATION. 45 

guenot colony in Florida ; but through, the jealousy of i565- 
the Spaniards at St. Augustine, it was utterly destroyed, with 
the atrocious murder of eight hundred Frenchmen. Their 
countryman, De Gourges, terribly avenged their death. 

The hope of finding a northwest passage to the Indies con- 
tinued to be a strong incentive to North American exploration. 
In 1553, Sir Hugh Willoughby, in attempting a northwest pas- 
sage to China, perished of cold in a harbour in Lapland. The 
following year, he, with his crew, were found frozen to marble 
in their oak-ribbed sepulchre. In 1576, Martin Frobisher, an 
English mariner, again essayed the task, " as the only thing in 
the world yet left undone, by which a notable minde might be 
made famous and fortunate." In a vessel of only five and 
twenty tons, he reached the straits still known by his name. 
He took possession of a barren island in the name of Queen 
Elizabeth, and found in its soil some grains of gold or what 
resembled it. A gold mania ensued. Two successive fleets, 
one of fifteen vessels, were despatched to the arctic El Dorado. 
Several of the vessels were wrecked or driven from their 
course ; the others returned, laden with hundreds of tons of 
glittering mica. The discovery of its worthlessness ended the 
attempt at arctic .colonization, but the dream of a northwest 
passage is still a potent spell. 

A Portuguese sailor was the first to circumnavigate the 
globe, and left his name stamped forever upon the 1521. 
geography of the earth, and emblazoned in the constellations of 
the skies.* The gallant Drake, an Englishman, pillaged the 
Spanish settleinents of the Pacific, explored the northwest 
coast of America as far as Oregon, and followed in ists. 
Magellan's wake around the world. 

From early in the century the maritime nations of Europe 
pursued the whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and fished for 
cod on the banks of Newfoundland. The latter industry 
became of great importance, to supply the demand for fish, of 
Eoman Catholic countries. In 1578, four hundred vessels 

* Magellan's Straits and th.e Magellanic Clouds. 



46 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



gathered the harvest of the sea upon those fertile banks. One 
hundred and fifty of these "were French, but the English, we 
read in contemporary records, "were commonly lords in the 
harbours." A profitable trade in peltry with the natives along 
the seaboard and far up the St. Lawrence, had also sprung up. 
Codfish and whale oil, beaver-skins and walrus-tusks proved 
treasures scarce less valuable than the gold and silver that the 
Spaniards wrung, by the unrequited toil of the conquered 
inhabitants, from the mines of Mexico and Peru. 

In 1583, Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert, half-brother of 
Sir Walter Ealeigh, re- 
asserted England's claim, 
by right of discovery, to 
Newfoundland, by tak- 
ing possession of the 
island, with feudal cere- 
mony, in the name of 
Queen Elizabeth. The 
crews became insubor- 
dinate, and went gold- 
hunting and pillaging the 
Spanish and Portuguese 
SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. shlps lu the neighbouring 

waters ; and Gilbert's colonization scheme was abandoned. On 
its return, the little fleet was shattered by a tempest. The 
pious admiral, in the tiny pinnace, *' Squirrel," of only ten 
tons burden, foundered in mid-ocean. Before night fell, as he 
sat in the stern of the doomed vessel, with the Bible in his 
hand, he called aloud to the crew of his consort, the " Hind," 
" Fear not, comrades ; heaven is as near by sea as by land." ^ 
Undeterred by the fate of his gallant kinsman, Sir Walter 
Ealeigh, the flower of Queen Elizabeth's court and friend of 
1585. Edmund Spenser, planted the first English colony m 
America — named, in honour of the maiden queen, Yirginia — on 
Eoanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. The colony 
consisted of one hundred and eight persons, among whom were 




EARLY COLONIZATION. 



47 




RALEIGH. 



several of gentle blood and scholarly 
training. But disaster, imprudence, 
and conflicts with the natives led, within 
a year, to the abandonment of tho 
country. Nevertheless, the glowing 
account given of its stately forests, 
its remarkable productions — the escu- 
lent potato, the prolific maize, the 
soothing tobacco — and the rumours 
of its mineral wealth, awakened a 
deep interest in Great Britain. 

The following year, another colony was sent out, but it also 
was overtaken by disaster. ' ' If America had no Eng- isst. 
lish to^vn, it soon had English graves." But Life went hand 
in hand with Death, and the birth of Virginia Dare, the first- 
born of English children in the New World, seemed an omen 
of good for the future of the colony. The threatened Spanish 
invasion of the mother country, however, absorbed every 
energy of the nation, and for three years no succour could be 
sent the infant colony. At the end of that time, the island was 
found deserted, the houses in ruins, and human bones 1590. 
strewed the neighbouring fields. 

Falling under royal censure, bankrupt in fortune,* and 
broken in health, Ealeigh languished for thirteen years in 
prison, solacing his solitude by writing his eloquent " History 
of the World." Eeleased, but not pardoned, he sought to 
retrieve his credit and fortunes by the search for a fabled city 
of gold on the banks of the Orinoco, amid the tropical forests 
of Guiana. Defeated by the Spaniards, his eldest son slain, 
his ^vessels wrecked, his body smitten with palsy, Raleigh 
returned a heart-broken man to his native country, which he 
had impoverished himself to serve. The unjust sentence 
which had slumbered fifteen years was revived, and the heroic 
veteran perished on the scaffold, a memorable example of the 



* He had expended two hundred thousand dollars of his private fortune, an 
immense sum in those days, in this enterprise. 



48 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

ingratitude of kings, 1618. His fair fame has been vindicated 
by time, and his name is commemorated by the city of 
Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. 

English expeditions now became frequent. In 1602, aban- 
doning the southern route previously followed by way of the 
Canaries and Azores, Bartholomew Gosnold, in a small bark, 
sailed due west boldly across the Atlantic. He reached Massa- 
chusetts Bay, and rounding Cape Cod, built a fort and began a 
settlement on an island in Buzzard's Bay, which, however, was 
soon forsaken. In 1603 and 1605, Martin Bring and George 
"Weymouth opened a traffic with the natives of what is now 
New England, Weymouth perfidiously kidnapping several of 
the inhabitants. 

In 1609, Henry Hudson, an English navigator in the employ 

of the Dutch East India Company, in a 

small vessel, the "Half Moon," discovered, 

and explored as far as the site of Troy, 

the river to which he gave his name. 

The following year, seeking a northwest 

passage to China, he penetrated the 

depths of Hudson's Bay, and wintered 

amid its icy regions. In the spring, with 

his son and seven others, he was turned 

HENRY HUDSON. adrift by a mutinous crew and never heard 

of again. The noble bay which became his grave perpetuates 

his memory. 

We now return to the narrative of early French colonization. 
The very year that Henry IV., by the edict of Nantes, gave 
religious toleration to his Protestant subjects, he granted to the 
Marquis de la Roche a commission, as Viceroy of New France 
— a designation which included the whole northern part of the 
continent. That nobleman was promised a monopoly of trade, 
and received a profusion of empty titles and feudal privileges. 
He fitted out an expedition strangely inadequate to the task of 
colonizing the vast territory assigned to him. He ransacked 
the prisons for pioneers of Christianity and civilization in the 
New World. The vessel in which they sailed was so small, that 




EARLY COLONIZATION. 49 

the crew, leaning over her sides, could Avash their hands in the 
sea. De la Roche landed his forty convicts on the desolate 
sand-dunes of Sable Island, about one hundred and fifty miles 
off the rocky coast of Nova Scotia, apparently fearing that 
they would desert as soon as they reached the main-land, and 
sailed away to select a site for his colony. But a Avestern gale 
drove his frail vessel back to France. Here he came under 
the power of enemies, and was thrown into prison. For five 
years the wretched convicts were abandoned to their fate. 
They subsisted on fish and on wild cattle, the progeny of those 
left by De Lery eighty years before. They clothed themselves 
in the skins of wild beasts, and obtained shelter in a cabin, 
built out of a wreck. Their savage natures found vent in 
violence and murder. When a vessel was sent for their 
release, only twelve remained alive. In shaggy attire and 
unkempt hair and beards — "rough with the salt of the sea, 
and brown with the brand of the sun" — they were brought 
before the generous-hearted king, and received a liberal bounty 
from his hands. The marquis was utterly ruined, and soon 
after, died of chagrin, on account of his broken fortunes. 

Meanwhile the forfeited patent of De la Eoche was granted 
to Pontgrave, a merchant of St. Malo, and Chauvin, a 1599. 
captain of the marine, who undertook to plant a colony of five 
hundred persons in Canada. Their chief object, however, was 
the fur trade. In order to prosecute this the more successfully, 
they established a trading-post at Tadousac, at the entrance to 
the gloomy gorge of the Saguenay. Of the sixteen men left 
to gather the rich harvest of furs, before Avinter was over sev- 
eral had died, and the rest were dependent for food on the 
charity of the Indians. After tAvo more unsuccessful attempts 
at colonization, Chauvin died, and the patent again lapsed. 

NoAV appears upon the scene one of the most remarkable of 
the many able men who have aided in moulding the fortunes 
and destiny of Canada. Samuel de Champlain, a gentleman of 
Saintonge, was born in 1567, at Brouage, a small seaport in 
the Bay of Biscay. From youth he was familiar with the sea, 
and had reached the position of captain of the royal marine. 
7 



50 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



He had also served as a soldier, and fought during the wars of 
the I^eague, under Henry of Navarre. He was a hero of the 




BAMnEL. CEASIELAIH, 

mediaeval type of chivalric courage, fond of romantic enter- 
prise, and inspired by religious enthusiasm, " the zeal of the 
missionary tempered the fire of the soldier." He observed 
acutely and described vividly the wonders of the new countries 
that he visited.* On the restoration of peace, weary of dally- 
ing at court, he sought adventure in a voyage to the West Indies 
and Mexico. Aymar de Chastes, Governor of Dieppe, and 
commander of the Order of St. John, received authority from 
the King to plant the cross and the fieur de lis in the New 
1603. World, and to extend the religion and commerce of France 
among its savage tribes. Discerning the commanding qualities 

* His journal, with rude drawings of the strange animals and scenes that he 
beheld, is still extant in MS. 



EARLY COLONIZATION. 



51 



of Champlain, De Chastes commissioned him to join Pontgrave 
in this pious enterprise. Two small barks, of twelve and 
fifteen tons bm^den, bore the adventurers across the stormy 
deep. Gliding up the vast and solitary St. Lawrence, past the 
deserted post of Tadousac, past the tenantless rock of Quebec, 
and the ruined fort of Cape Eouge, they reached the Island of 
Montreal and the rapids of St. Louis. But not a vestige of 
the Indian towns of Stadacona or Hochelaga, nor of their 
friendly population, described by Cartier sixty-eight years be- 
fore, remained. Returning to France with a cargo of furs, they 
found that De Chastes, 
the generous patron 
of the enterprise, was 
dead. 

A successor in the 
work of colonization 
was soon found. 
Pierre du Guast, Sieur 
de Monts, a Calvinist 
nobleman, obtained a 
patent of the vice 
royalty of La Cadie 
or Acadie,* a terri- 
tory described as ex- 
tending from the for- 
tieth to the forty- 
sixth degree of north 
latitude, from the par- 
allel of Philadelphi 
to that of Louisburg. 
Protestantism was to 
be freely tolerated, 
but the Roman Catho- 
lic religion alone might 
be taught to the na- sieur de monts. 

* The name is said to "be derived from the Indian Aquoddie, i.e., a fisli like a 
pollock. 




52 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

1604. tives. The new colony was composed of strangely 
incongruous materials. In the crowded ships were assembled 
some of the best blood, and some of the worst criminals of 
France, — the Baron de Poutrincourt, the Sieur de Monts, 
Champlain, soldiers, artisans and convicts. Catholic priest 
and Calvinist minister carried their polemics, says Champlain, 
from words to blows. Entering a harbour on the southern 
shore of Nova Scotia, they found a fur-trading vessel. This 
De JNIonts forthwith confiscated for invasion of his monopoly, 
and commemorated the circumstance by giving the name of the 
owner to the harbour, Rossignol, now Liverpool. Rounding 
Cape Sable, De Monts entered the narrow harbour of St. 
Mary's. Here M. Aubry, a young priest from Paris, explor- 
ing through the woods, disappeared. After diligent search, he 
was given up as dead, not without suspicion of having met with 
foul play from the Calvinist minister, with whom he had been 
engaged in much vigorous controversy. After sixteen days 
wandering, the missing priest was discovered by a fishing party, 
nearly famished with hunger. The reputation of his clerical 
antagonist was thereby re-established. 

Sailing up the Bay of Fundy, the voyagers entered a narrow 
inlet, which expanded into a noble land-locked basin. Delighted 
with the beauty of the scene, Poutrincourt asked a grant of 
the place, as the site for a settlement. This was granted, and 
the Baron gave to his new domain the name, destined to be- 
come historical, of Port Royal. 

De Monts and Champlain explored, to its extremity, the Bay 
of Fundy, named Bale Francaise, at times imperilled by its 
dense fogs and swirling tides. On the 24th of June, they en- 
tered a spacious harbour which, in honour of the day, they 
named St. John, a designation which it still bears. A sandy 
island in a river, which he named the St. Croix, now the 
boundary between New Brunswick and Maine, was selected by 
De Monts as the site of a fort and settlement. It was an un- 
fortunate choice. The island, though easy of defence, was 
barren, bleak, and desolate ; and became the scene of a dread- 
ful tragedy. The whole colony, however, set to work, — gen- 



EARLY COlONIZATIOX. 53 

tlemen, soldiers, sailors, and convicts. Before winter a spa- 
cious quadrangle was surrounded by barracks, storehouses, 
workshops, lodgings, chapel, and Governor's house, the whole 
surrounded by a palisade. 

Poutrincourt now returned to France for recruits for his 
domain of Port Koyal. From the Spanish Settlement of St. 
Augustine to the arctic waste, from the surging tides of the 
Atlantic to the waters of the Pacific, the only habitation of 
civilized man, was this outpost of Christendom on the edge 
of the boundless and savage wilderness. The winter set in 
early, and the cold was intense. The bleak winds howled 
around the wooden houses, drifting the snow through their 
crevices. Even the wine froze in the casks. As the hap- 
less Frenchmen shivered over their scanty fires, they fell into 
deepest dejection, and became the easy prey of disease. Of 
the seventy-nine exiles, thirty-five, before the spring, fell vic- 
tims to the loathsome scurvy, and many others were brought 
to the very door of death. Amid such sufferings were laid 
the foundations of New France. One heart, however, struggled 
against despair. By his indomitable spirit, Champlain sustained 
the courao;e of the wretched colonists! 

In the spring, Pontgrave arrived with succours from France, 
and was hailed as bringing deliverance from death. De isos. 
Monts and Champlain explored the coast of Maine and Massa- 
chusetts, but found no place of settlement so eligible as the 
land-locked harbour of Port Royal. They therefore removed 
thither, carrying even the timbers of the buildings for the con- 
struction of a new fort. Here the little colony braved the 
rigours of another winter, while De Monts returned to France 
to defend his commercial prerogatives against the machinations 
of jealous rivals. 

With a company of artisans and labourers, Poutrincourt re- 
enforced the colony the following spring. With him came icoe. 
a man of considerable note, as the future historian of New 
France — a "briefless barrister" and poet of some skill. Marc 
Lescarbot. The newcomers were hailed with joy by the col- 
onists who were again reduced to extremities. While Cham- 



54 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

plain explored the Atlantic seaboard for a milder place of 
settlement, Lescarbot remained in charge of the fort. He in- 
fused his own energy into his subordinates, and spent the sum- 
mer in busy industry ; planting, tilling, building, and, with all, 
finding time to write his rhymes. Champlain's return was wel- 
comed by a theatrical masque, Neptune and his Tritons greeting 
them in verses composed for the occasion by the ingenious poet. 
The dreary winter was enlivened by the establishment of the 
" Order of the Good Time," the duties of which were, with 
the aid of Indian allies, to prepare good cheer for the daily 
1607. banquet. In the spring came a vessel from France, bear- 
ins: the tidings of the revocation of the charter, and orders to 
abandon the settlement. With heavy hearts these pioneers of 
empire in the New World, forsook the little fort and clearing, 
the pleasant bay, and engirdling hills of Port Eoyal ; and took 
leave of the friendly Indians, from whom they had received no 
small kindness. 

Undeterred by this disaster. Baron Poutrincourt returned to 
1610. Port Eoyal three years after, the King having confirmed 
the patent granted by De Monts. He found the buildings un- 
injured, and even the furniture in the deserted chambers un- 
touched. The Indians welcomed the return of their former 
friends with delight. The aged chief, Membertou, a patriarch 
of over a hundred years, with many of his tribe, consented to 
receive Christian baptism from the hands of Father La Fleche, 
a zealous priest who accompanied the "colonists. This rite was 
performed with the utmost pomp, accompanied by the chanting 
of the Te Deum^ and the roar of cannon, the savage neophytes 
receiving the names of the King, the Queen, the Dauphin, the 
Pope, and of members of princely or noble houses. Biencourt, 
the son of Baron Poutrincourt, was dispatched to Paris with 
the baptismal registry of the new proselytes, as a proof that 
the spiritual interests of the natives had not been neglected, as 
alleged by the enemies of the Baron. 

On reaching France, Biencourt found that Henry IV., the 
liberal-minded patron of the colony, had been treacherously 
assassinated by the fanatical Eavaillac, and that Jesuit influence 



EARLY COLONIZATIQN. 55 

was in the ascendant at the court. A zeal for the conversion 
of the Indians became a fashion among the great ladies of the 
time. Prominent among these, was Madame de Guercheville, 
who purchased, in the interests of the Jesuits, a controlling 
share in the colony, and despatched thither Fathers Biard and 
Masse, the first members of this energetic and aggressive or- 
der who visited New France. Dissension soon broke out be- 
tween the temporal and spiritual powers at Port Eoyal. The 
Jesuits excommunicated the civil rulers, and refused, for 
months, to celebrate mass or perform other functions of their 
office. The religious strifes of the Old World were renewed 
in the Acadian wilderness. Famine and anarchy succeeded to 
the thrift and concord of the settlement of Champlain and Les- 
carbot. 

At length the Jesuits abandoned Port Eoyal, and, under au- 
thority of a royal patent, with a number of colonists, at- leis- 
tempted to plant a settlement on the island of Mount Desert, in 
the picturesque inlet on the coast of Maine, which still bears the 
name of Frenchman's Bay. While they were ploughing and 
building, a strange vessel, flying the flag of Great Britain, ap- 
peared in the offing. The French hastened on board their 
vessel, and made an ineffectual resistance. The EngKsh broad- 
sides soon reduced it to a wreck, and strewed its gory deck 
with the dying and the dead, among whom was the Jesuit, Du 
Thet. Argall, the piratical English adventurer from the new 
colony of Virginia, landed and pillaged the French settlement, 
and stole their commission of colonization from- the Kingf. 
Fifteen of their prisoners he inhumanely turned adrift in an 
open boat. They were, however, providentially rescued, and 
found their way to France. The rest of the Frenchmen, Argall 
conveyed to Virginia, where the Governor threatened to have 
them executed for piratical invasion of British territor}^, and 
was only deterred by Argall's production of the stolen commis- 
sion. This was the first outbreak of the long: strife of one 
hundred and fifty years, between the English and the French, 
for the possession of the broad continent. Each country, 
though occupying only a few acres of an almost boundless do- 



56 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

main, was insanely jealous of the possession of a single foot of 
it by the other. 

The following year, Argall again set forth on a career of pillage 
1614- and havoc. He completed the destruction of the French 
settlements at Mount Desert and St. Croix. The Jesuit, Biard, 
it is said, to gratify his ancient grudge against his countryman, 
Biencourt, betrayed the existence of the French colony of Port 
Royal. Sweeping down upon the little settlement, Argall 
plundered it, even to the locks upon the doors, and razed the 
fort to the very foundation. Poutrincourt abandoned the un- 
happy colony in despair, and the following year, fell fighting, 
sword in hand, at the siege of Mery, in his native land. 



CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 57 



CHAPTER V. 

CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTEATION. 

Cliamplain Founds Quebec, 1608 — Sufferings of the Colony — Iroquois War 
— Place Eoyal (Montreal) — The Impostor, Vignan — Champlain Discovers 
Lakes Huron, Simcoe, and Ontario — Seneca War — The De Caens — The 
Company of the Hundred Associates Organized, 1627 — Sir William Alexan- 
der Obtains Grant of Acadia — The Knights-Baronets of Nova Scotia — 
Kirk's Conquest of Quebec, 1629 — Quebec Eestored by the Treaty of St. 
Germain-en-Laye, 1632 — The La Tours in Acadia — Death of Champlain, 
1635 — His Character. 

BAFFLED in his efforts to plant a colony in Acadia, De 
Monts resolved to attempt a settlement on the St. Law- 
rence. By tracing its mighty stream, it was thought that a 
nearer way to China might be discovered ; and that a single, 
well-placed fort would command the fur trade of the vast in- 
terior, while faithful missionaries might preach to countless 
savage tribes, the gospel of Mary and her Divine Son. Ob- 
taining, for a year, a renewal of his monopoly, De Monts de- 
spatched Pontgrave and Champlain to the St. Lawrence, bearing 
the fortunes of Canada in their frail vessels. At Tadousac, a 
choleric Basque captain defied De Monts' claim to a monopoly 
of the fur trade, and fired on Pontgrave's ship, killing one man 
and wounding three others. 

On the 3d of July, Champlain reached the narrows of the river, 
where frown the craggy heights of Quebec. Here, be- leos. 
neath the tall cliff of Cape Diamond, he laid the foundations of 
one of the most famous cities of the New World.* A Avooden 
fort was erected, on the site of the present market-place of the 
lower town, and was surrounded by a palisade, loop-holed for 

* The name Quebec, Champlain positively asserts, was the Indian designation 
of the narrows of the St. Lawrence at this point, the word signifying a strait. 

Canada is the Indian word for a collection of huts, and enters into the com- 
position of several native names. 
8 



58 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

musketry. The whole was enclosed by a moat, and three 
small cannon guarded the river-front. The colonists were soon 
comfortably housed, and land was cleared for tillage. The 
firm discipline maintained by Champlain, provoked a conspiracy 
for his murder. It was discovered, the ring-leader was hanged, 
and his fellow-conspirators shipped in chains to France. Cham- 
plain was left with twenty-eight men to hold a continent. His 
nearest civilized neighbours were the few English colonists at 
Jamestown, Virginia. The long and cruel winter was a season 
of tragical disaster and suffering. Before spring, of that little 
company, only eight remained alive. The rest had all miser- 
1609. ably perished by the loathsome scurvy. The timely 
arrival of succours from France saved the little colony from 
extinction. / 

The neighbouring Algonquins were anxious to secure, as an 
ally, the pale-faced chief, who was able, like the thunder-god, 
to destroy his enemy at a distance, by a flash of flame. Eager 
to explore the interior, Champlain yielded to their solicitations 
to join a war-party in an attack upon their hereditary foes, the 
Iroquois, who occupied the lake region of central New York. 
After wild war-dances, and a gluttonous feast, the forest ex- 
pedition set forth, accompanied by Champlain and eleveh white 
men. A hundred canoes, paddled by sinewy arms, glided up 
the St. Lawrence, crossed Lake St. Peter, and ascended the tor- 
tuous current of the Richelieu. Here, three-fourths of the war- 
party, after the fickle manner of the natives, returned, and a tiny 
fleet of twenty-four canoes, bearing sixty Indian warriors and 
three white men, held on its way. They soon glided forth on 
the beautiful lake, to which Champlain has given his name ; the 
shores of which were so often to re-echo the strife of savage or 
civilized warfare. Amid the summer loveliness of Lake St. 
Sacrament, long after memorable as Lake George, they came 
upon the foe. Before the death-dealing fire of the European 
weapons, the savages fled, howling with dismay. In spite of 
his vehement remonstrance, Champlain was compelled to wit- 
ness the torture of twelve of the enemy, captured by the Al- 
gonquins. This was an unfortunate expedition, as the Iroquois 



CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 59 

became, for one hundred and fifty years, the implacable foes of 
the French, and terribly avenged, by many a murder and am- 
buscade, the death of every Indian slain in this battle. The 
following spring they entrenched themselves at the mouth of 
the Eichelieu, and were routed only after a fierce struggle, in 
which Champlain himself received an arrow in his neck. 

After the assassination, in this year, of Henry IV. , the patron 
of De Monts, the latter was obliged to admit private ad- isio. 
venturers to share the profits of the fur trade, on condition of 
their promoting his schemes of colonization. The powerful 
Prince of Conde, Admiral Montmorency, and the Duke of 
Yentadour, became successively Viceroys of Canada ; but the 
valour and fidelity and zeal of Champlain commanded the 
confidence of them all. Twice, in successive years, he visited 
the court of France in the interests of the colony, and through 
successive changes of patrons, he continued to administer its 
afiairs as their agent, yet bearing the commission of the new 
King, Louis XIII. With the prescience of a founder of em- 
pire, he selected the Island of Montreal as the site of a leii. 
fort, protecting the fur trade, and commanding the two great 
water-ways of the country, the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa. 
The commercial prosperity of the great city which now covers 
so large a portion of the island, is an ample vindication of his 
choice. He .erected storehouses at Lachine, which he named 
Sault St. Louis, and gave the designation it still bears to St. 
Helen's Island, opposite the city, after the name of his youthful 
wife, whom he had just espoused. 

In order to verify the story of a coasting adventurer, as to 
the existence of a great northern sea, which would prob- lejs. 
ably give access to China and India, Champlain, with a native 
interpreter, and a few companions, penetrated up the pictur- 
esque and rapid Ottawa, over rugged portages, and through 
tangled forests, past the boiling Chaudiere, and the stately cliif 
now the site of the capital of Canada, as far as the distant Isle 
of Allumettes, a region which is to this day a solitude. When 
even the Indians refused to escort him further on his perilous 
way, and he discovered the falsehood of his guide, having first 



go HISTORY OF CANADA. 

planted the emblems of the faith in this primeval wilderness, 
he returned, disappointed but undaunted, to Quebec, and thence 
to France, to urge the fortunes of the colony. 

With a desire for gain, and for extending the dominions of 
France in the New World, was blended also, in the purposes of 
successive Viceroys of the colony, a zeal for the conversion of 
the savages to the Catholic faith. In this purpose they were 
1615. seconded by the piety of Champlain. On his return to 
Canada, he brought, with the new company of colonists, four 
Recollet friars, the first of an heroic band of missionaries, who 
toiled amid the wilderness to win the wandering pagans to the 
doctrines of the Cross. Clad in coarse serge garments, with 
girdles of knotted cord, and sandals of wood, the "apostolic 
mendicants" kneeled on the bare earth, and, amid salvos of 
cannon from the fort and ship, celebrated the first mass ever 
said in Canada. Scorning the pleasures of civilized life, they 
cheerfully espoused privations and sufferings, for the glory of 
God and the spiritual welfare of the native tribes. 

On his arrival at Montreal, Champlain found a large council 
of Algonquin and Huron Indians, discussing the project of an 
attack upon the Iroquois. Desirous of cementing an alliance 
with these friendly tribes, he agreed to join the expedition, the 
savages undertaking to raise a force of twenty-five hundred 
warriors for the purpose. While Champlain went to Quebec 
for supplies, his Indian allies, not waiting his return, proceeded 
with Father Caron and twelve Frenchmen, to the place of ren- 
dezvous in the Huron country. Accompanied by a small party 
of Indian canoemen, Champlain followed them. Stemming 
the rapid current of the Ottawa, and toiling over almost count- 
less portages ; subsisting on wild berries, and camping on the 
naked rocks ; crossing Lake Nipissing, and gliding down the 
rapids of the French River, he gained, at last, the waters of 
the Georgian Bay, and beheld, stretching to the west, seemingly 
boundless as the ocean, the blue heaving billows of Lake 
Huron, to which he gave the name Mer Douce, — the Fresh- 
water Sea. Coasting down its rugged eastern shore, and 
through its many thousands of rocky islands, a hundred miles 



CHAMPLAJN'S ADMINISTRATION: 



61 



or more, tie reached the inlet of the Matcheclash Bay, where 
Penetangiiishene now stands. This region, now the northern 
part of the county of Simcoe, contained the chief settlements 
of the Huron Indians, a nation yariously estimated at from ten 
to thirty thousand souls, dwelling in palisaded towns, with 
large and well-built houses, and subsisting by agriculture as 
well as by the chase. Over a forest trail, Champlain and his 
companions passed to the appointed place of gathering of the 
forest tribes, Cahiagua, on the narrows of Lake Couchiching, 
near where the pretty village of Orillia now stands. Here he 




VIEW NEAR OKHXIA. 



was met by Le Caron, the Recollet friar ; and here, in the soli- 
tude of the primeval forest, were chanted the Te Deum, and 
offered the sacrifice of the mass. 

At Cahiagua, a war-party of two thousand plumed and 
painted braves were assembled, and several days were spent in 
feasting, war-dances, and other savage pastimes. At length 
sailing, with several hundred canoes, through Lake Simcoe and 
up the Talbot Eiver, and traversing the picturesque Balsam, 
Sturgeon, Pigeon, and Rice lakes, with their intervening port- 
ages, they glided down the devious windings of the Otonabee 
and Trent rivers, and reached the beautiful Bay of Quinte, with 



62 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

its columned forests and verdure-clad, gently* undulating slopes, 
now adorned with smiling villages and cheerful farms. Emerg- 



VIEW ON LAKE SIMCOE. 

ing from the placid bay, the Huron fleet entered the broad and 
blue Ontario, dimpling in the autumnal sunlight. To this 
Champlain gave the name, which it long retained, of Lac 
St. Louis. 

Having boldly crossed the lake, the war-party reached the 
country of the Iroquois. Hiding their canoes in the forest, 
they pressed onward some thirty «leagues, to the Seneca towns 
near Lake Canandaigua. The Iroquois, attacked in the corn- 
fields, — for it was the time of the maize harvest, — retired to 
their town, which was defended with four rows of palisades. 
On the inside, galleries were constructed, on which were pre- 
pared magazines of stones and other missiles, and a supply of 
water to extinguish any fire that might be kindled beneath the 
walls. The tumultuous attack of the Hurons was ineffective. 
Under Champlain's direction, a wooden tower was constructed, 
after the manner 'of mediaeval warfare, and dragged forward so 
as to overlook the walls. Huge shields or mantlets were also 
prepared to cover the persons of the warriors advancing to the 
attack, while from the top of the tower skilled marksmen raked 
the galleries, crowded with naked Iroquois. But the impetu- 



CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 63 

ous zeal of the Hurons brooked no restraint. They rushed 
tumultuously against the walls, and were soon thrown into con- 
fusion, in spite of the efforts of Champlain, who was himself 
seriously wounded, to maintain order. Thus, this *' forest 
paladin " sought to wage war in the heart of the wilderness, 
after the manner of a European campaign. After an unsuccess- 
ful attempt to fire the town, the Hurons fell back on their 
rudely fortified camp. After the manner of their tribe, when 
baffled in a first attempt, they could not be induced to repeat 
the attack, but resolved to retreat. This movement was con- 
ducted with greater skill than the assault. The wounded — 
among whom was Champlain, chafing with chagrin and pain — 
were bound on rude litters and carried in the centre, while 
armed warriors formed front, rear, and flanking guards. 

Champlain had been promised an escort down the St. Law- 
rence to Quebec, but, daunted by their defeat, the Hurons 
refused to keep their engagement. He was, therefore, com- 
pelled to return with his savage allies. They encamped for 
thirty-eight days near Mud Lake, northwest of Kingston, 
waiting for the frost to bridge the rivers and oozy marshes. 
For four days, he was lost in the woods and well-nigh ex- 
hausted by hunger, cold, and fatigue. For nineteen days, he 
traversed on snow-shoes the wintry forest, beneath a crushing 
load, through what are now the counties of Hastings, Peter- 
borough, and Victoria ; and on Christmas eve, the baffled war- 
party reached Cahiagua. Champlain remained four months 
with his Huron hosts, sharing in their councils, their feasts, 
and their hunts, and hearing strange tales of the vast lakes and 
rivers of the Far TVest. His arrival at Quebec, after a icie. 
year's absence, was greeted almost as a resurrection from the 
dead. 

Champlain now devoted himself to fostering the growth of 
the infant colony. Quebec was as yet only surrounded by 
wooden walls. To strengthen its defences, the energetic Gov- 
ernor built a stone fort in the lower town, and on the magnifi- 
cent heights overlooking the broad St. Lawrence, one of the 
noblest sites in the world, he began the erection of the Castle 



64 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

of St. Louis, the residence of successive Governors of Canada 
down to 1834, when it was destroyed by fire. 

The associated company of merchants were averse to colo- 
nization, and were anxious only to prosecute the fur trade, and 
to retain the monopoly exclusively in their own hands. Cham- 
plain went every year to France to urge the interests of the 
colony. His patron, the Prince of Conde, disgraced and im- 
prisoned for his share in the political disturbances during the 
1630. minority of Louis XIII., sold the vice-royalty of New 
France to the Duke of Montmorency, for the sum of eleven 
thousand crowns. The same year, Champlain brought out his 
youthful wife, who was received by the Indians with reverential 
homage, as a being of superior race. Amid the rude surround- 
ings of her exile, during the four years she remained, the lady 
devoted herself with enthusiasm to the religious instruction of 
the Indian children, and won all hearts by her beauty, her 
kindness, and her piety. The impolicy of Champlain's Indian 
wars was soon manifested by the first of those Iroquois inva- 
sions, which so often afterwards harassed the colony. For the 
present, however, the terror of the French cannon and mus- 
ketry frustrated the threatened attack. 

In consequence of disputes in the Trading Company of New 
France, and its neglect to furnish supplies for the colony, its 
1621. charter was suspended, and its privileges transferred to 
the Sieurs De Caen, uncle and nephew, zealous Huguenots. 
The elder De Caen soon arrived at Quebec, and attempted to 
seize the vessels of the old company, then in the river. Many 
resident traders left the country in disgust, so that, although 
eighteen emigrants had arrived, the population was reduced to 
forty-eight persons. 

Montmorency soon surrendered his vice-royalty to the Duke 
1633. de Ventadour, a nobleman who, wearied of the follies 
of the court, had entered a monastic order, and was full of zeal 
for the extension of the Eoman Catholic faith in the New 
"World. He suppressed the Protestant worship in De Caen's 
ships, especially the singing of psalms, which seems to have 
been particularly obnoxious, and sent out three Jesuit Fathers, 



CHAMP LAIN' S ABMINISTRATION. 65 

Pferes Brebeuf, and Lalemant, who were afterwards martyred by 
the Iroquois, and Le Masse, who had survived the disasters of 
Port Eoyal. The Jesuits, coldly repulsed by De Caen, were 
hospitably received by the Eecollets, in their convent on the 
St. Charles, till they had built one of their own. 
- Amid the religious and commercial rivalries by which it was 
distracted, the infant colony languished. The Iroquois, grown 
insolent from a knowledge of its weakness, became more bold 
in their attacks, and even cruelly tortured a French prisoner. 
The De Caens furnished inadequate supplies of food, clothing, 
and ammunition, so that at times the colony was reduced to 
great extremities. Everything seemed to wither under their 
monopoly. 

Cardinal Richelieu, one of the greatest statesman who ever 
swayed the destinies of France, was now in power. A lear. 
part of his comprehensive policy for the aggrandizement of his 
sovereign and country was, the development of the French 
navy and colonies, and the suppression of the Huguenots. He 
straightway annulled the charter of the De Caens, and organ- 
ized the Company of the Hundred Associates, with the abso- 
lute sovereignty of the whole of New France, from Florida to 
Hudson's Bay, and with the complete monopoly of trade, 
except the whale and cod fisheries. It was. required to settle 
four thousand Catholic colonists within fifteen years, and to 
maintain and permanently endow the Roman Catholic Church 
in New France ; and all Huguenots were banished from the 
country. 

But before this comprehensive, and,' but for its religious 
intolerance, wise scheme could be carried into efiect, a new 
disaster assailed the colony. Before describing this, we must 
briefly recount the recent fortunes of Acadia. The pirat- 
ical expedition of Argall in 1614 had furnished the English 
with an excuse for the occupation of that country, where the 
French, represented by Biencourt, had again planted a strug- 
gling colony. In that year, the ' ' Grand Council of Plymouth," 
an association of English merchants, received from King James 
a patent, covering all the territory from the fortieth to the 



QQ HISTORY^ OF CANADA. 

forty-eighth degree of north latitude, that is, from the parallel 
of Philadelphia to that of the Bay of Chaleur, and from, the 
Atlantic to the Pacific. This comprehended the greater part 
of Canada and Acadia. Among the members of this ' ' Grand 
Council" was Sir William Alexander, a Scottish gentleman of 
considerable political infl.uence and of enterprising patriotism. 
He obtained from King James the concession of the Acadian 
peninsula (1621, renewed 1625), and undertook the found- 
ing of a New Scotland, after the analogy of the New France 
and New England, already planted or projected. Under his 
authority, a Scottish colony was established, and a fort built at 
Port Royal, near the previous settlement of the French. King 
Charles I. renewed the patent of Sir William Alexander, and 
created a minor order of nobility, called the "Knights-Baro- 
nets of Nova Scotia." It was composed of one hundred and 
fifty members, who received that title, together with liberal 
land grants, on conditions of settling a certain number of immi- 
grants on their new domains. What is now the province of 
New Brunswick received the name of Alexandria, and the 
present peninsula of Nova Scotia, that of Caledonia. It was 
intended to transfer thither the feudal institutions of the Old 
World, and to build up a great Scottish province on this rocky 
outpost of British civilization. 

At this time Charles I. made an inefiectual attempt to relieve 
1638. the Huguenots besieged in Eochelle, and declared war 
agamst France. Sir William Alexander thought the moment op- 
portune to secure the conquest of the extensive country, to most 
of which he had as yet" only a paper claim. Through his influ- 
ence, David Kirk, a Huguenot refugee, received a royal com- 
mission to seize the French forts in Acadia and on the St. 
Lawrence. He organized an expedition of a dozen ships, and, 
overcoming the small French force at Port Royal, took posses- 
sion of tiie country for Sir William Alexander. 

Later in the summer Kirk entered the St. Lawrence, burned 
Tadousac, and sent a summons to Champlain, at Quebec, to 
surrender that post. The commandant ostentatiously feasted 
the messengers — although the town was on an allowance of only 



CHAMPLAIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 67 

seven ounces of bread per day, and the magazine contained 
but fifty pounds of powder — and returned a gallant defiance to ^ 
Kirk. The latter, adopting the policy of delays cruised in the 
Gulf, and captured the transports of the new company, laden 
with the winter's provision for the colony. In consequence of 
this disaster, the sufferings of the French were intense. The 
crops of their few arable acres were unusually scanty. With 
the early spring the famishing population burrowed in 1639. 
the forests for edible roots. But the heroic spirit of Cham- 
plain sustained their courage. Still, the summer wore away, 
and the expected provision ships from France came not. At 
length", towards the end of July, hungry eyes discovered from 
the Castle of St. Louis three vessels rounding the headland of * 
Point Levi. They brought not, however, the much needed 
succours ; they were English ships of war, commanded by two 
brothers of Admiral Kirk. The little garrison of sixteen 
famine-wasted men surrendered with the honours of war, and 
Louis Kirk, installed as Governor, saved from starvation the 
conquered inhabitants, less than one hundred in all. 

As peace had been concluded before the surrender of 
Quebec, Champlain urged the apathetic French court to demand 
its restoration. This demand was made, and, by the treaty of 
St. Germain-en-Laye, signed March 27th, 1632, the whole of 
Canadk, Cape Breton and Acadia, was restored to the French. 
De Caen was granted a monopoly of the fur trade for one year, 
to indemnify him for losses during the war ; and the red-cross 
banner of England, after waving for three years from the 
Castle of St. Louis, gave place to the lilied flag of France. 

Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia colonization scheme of Sir Wil- 
liam Alexander had proved an utter failure. The grand titles 
of his knight-baronets had not attracted settlers to those 
rugged shores. He sought, therefore, to detach the French 
settled within the limits of his grant from their rightful alle- 
giance. To this end, Claude La Tour, who had held a fort for 
his king at the mouth of the St. Croix, was won by the flat- 
teries of Sir William to become a knight-baronet of Nova 
Scotia, and married an English court lady. He undertook also 



g8 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

to bring over his son to the interests of the British, and 
received a grant of the southern part of the peninsula of 
Nova Scotia. Young La Tour, however, who held a fort for 
the French at Cape Sable, proved faithful to his country, and 
resisted alike the solicitations and the armed assault of his sire, 
who, with two English ships, attacked the post, which was 
gallantly defended by his son. Despised by his own country- 
men, and not venturing to return to either France or England, 
the renegade La Tour was compelled to accept the protection 
and hospitality of his son, who would not, however, allow him 
to enter the fort, but built him a lodging without its walls. 

By the treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, Nova Scotia was 
ceded to the French, and Isaac de Eazill6 was appointed its 
commandant. It was not till the year after the surrender of 
1633. Quebec to the De Caens that Champlain returned to 
Canada. He was accompanied by two hundred immigrants and 
soldiers, and brought an abundant supply of provisions, mer- 
chandise, and munitions of war. With characteristic energy, 
he established forts at Three Rivers, and at the mouth of the 
Eichelieu,* to protect the fur trade and check the inroads of 
the Iroquois, and greatly promoted the prosperity of the colony 
and the christianizing of the native tribes. The presence of 
the Jesuits secured the grave decorum of the town, which was 
more like a mission than a garrison, and their apostolic zeal 
' carried the Gospel to the distant shores of Lake Huron. 

But the labours of Champlain's busy life, spent in the service 
of his native or adopted country, were drawing to a close. In 
October, 1635, being then in the sixty-eighth year of his age, 
he was smitten with his mortal illness. For ten weeks he lay 
in the Castle of St. Louis, unable even to sign his name, but 
awaiting with resignation the Divine will. On Christmas Day, 
the brave soul passed away. The body of the honoured 
.founder of Quebec was buried beneath the lofty cliff which 
overlooks the scene of his patriotic toil. The character of 
Champlain was more like that of the knight-errant of medisBval 

* This ancient highway, by -which the bark fleets of these eneinies of New 
France inTaded the colony, was long known as the Elver of the IrocLuoia. 



CHAMPLAIN'S ADMIN ISTRATIOS. 69 

romance than that of a soldier of the practical seventeenth cen- 
tury in which he lived. He had greater virtues and fewer 
faults than most men of his age. In a time of universal license 
his life was pure. With singular magnanimity, he devoted 
himself to the interests of his patrons. Although traffic with 
the natives was very lucrative, he carefully refrained from 
engaging in it. His sense of justice was stern, yet his conduct 
was tempered with mercy. He won the unfaltering confidence 
of the Indian tribes ; suspicious of others, in him they had 
boundless trust. His zeal for the spread of Christianity was 
intense. The salvation of one soul, he was wont to declare, 
was of more importance than the founding of an empire. His 
epitaph is written in the record of his busy life. For well- 
niffh thirty years, he laboured without stint and against almost 
insuperable difficulties, for the struggling colony. A score of 
times he crossed the Atlantic in the tardy, incommodious, and 
often scurvy-smitten vessels of the period, in order to advance 
its interests. His name is embalmed in the history of his 
adopted country, and still lives in the memory of a grateful 
people, and in the designation of the beautiful lake on which 
he, first of white men, sailed. His widow, originally a Hugue- 
not, espoused her husband's faith, and died a nun at Meaux in 
1654. His account of his voyage to Mexico, and his history of 
New France, bear witness to his literary skiU and powers of 
observation ; and his summary of Christian doctrine, written 
for the native tribes, is a touching monument of his piety. 



70 



HISTORY Of CAS ADA. 



CHAPTEK Yl. 



ENGLISH C0LO^■IZATI0^' — CANADA UyDEE TEE HTN'DEED ASSO- 
CIATES. 

Jamestown Founded, 1607 — Tndian Massacre — Maryland and Xew England 
Colonies — Monnnagny, Governor of Canada. 1637 — Madame de la Peltrie 
— Marie de ITncamatlon — Founding of Ville Marie (Montreal). 1642 — In- 
dian Wars and Treaties — The Jesuit ilissionaries — Isaac Jogues — Bres- 
sanL 

IN order to understand the prolonged conflict between France 
and Great Britain, for the possession of the Xorth Ameri- 
can continent, it will be necessary to trace brieflv the progress 
of English colonization. It was not till the rear 1607, one 
hundred and ten years after the discorer}* of America by Cabot, 
that a permanent English settlement was made in the Xew 
TVorld. It consisted of one hundred and live emigrants, of 
whom forty-eight were '* gentlemen," and only twelve labourers 
and four carpenters, sent out by a company of London mer- 
chants, incorporated under royal 
charter. They entered the magnifi- 
cent Chesapeake Bay, and began 
their settlement at Jamestown, on 
the James Eiver. Indolence, strife, 
and jealousy plunged the colony 
into anarchy and despair. Before 
autumn half of its nimiber had died, 
^ and the . rest were enfeebled with 
''^ hunger and disease. They were 
only saved from destruction by the 
energy and ability of Captain John 
Smith, the romantic stoiy of whose 
rescue from death by Pocahontas is 
one of the most pleasing legends of 
OEmy JOHs S3IIIH. earlv colonization. With the com- 




ENGLISH COLONIZATIOy. 



71 




manding influence of a great spirit, Smith asserted his authority 

over even his Indian captors. By exhibiting his watch and 

compass, and explaining 

some of the wonders of as- <, 

tronomy, he overawed the 

minds of the savages, and 

not only escaped torture 

hut acquired great influence 

amonsf them. 

Successive re-enforcements 
of the Yu'ginia colony, con- 
sisting chiefly of broken- 
down gentlemen, bankrupt 
tradesmen, and idle and 
dissolute fugitives from jus- 
tice, increased the number 
in three years td four hun- 
dred and ninety persons, 
when Joliu Smith, injured 
by an explosion of gunpowder, was compelled to return to 
England. In six months vice and famine had reduced the 
colony to sixty persons, who prepared to abandon the country. 
Lord Delaware opportunely arrived with supplies ; but in 
twelve years, after the expenditure of $400,000, it numbered 
only six hmidred persons. At length, re-enforced by a supe- 
rior class of immigrants, its population rapidly increased. 

In the spring of the year 1622, occurred the first of those 
Indian massacres, which so often crimsoned the hearths of the 
English settlements, and inau^irated a bitter war of extermi- 
nation against the red race. It was planned with the utmost 
secrecy and treachery. *« Sooner," said the Indians, " shall the 
sky fall, than peace be violated on our part." At noon, on the 
22d of March, throughout an extent of one hundred and forty 
miles, they fell upon the unsuspecting white population, and in 
an hour three hundred and forty-seven persons sank beneath 
the tomahawk, or scalping-knife. The colony at first was par- 
alyzed with fear, but soon a fierce retaliation ensued. In 1644, 



SMTTH AlfD HIS CAPTORS. 



72 HISTORY or CANADA. 

similar scenes were renewed. They became of gad frequency 
dm-mg the early colonial days, and gave the name of the Dark 
and Bloody Ground to the scenes of these sanguinary conflicts. 
fetiU the colony throve amain, and at Christmas, 1648, thirty- 
one ships were in Chesapeake Bay, twenty thousand inhabi- 
tants were dwelling on its shores, and so greatly had their 
famihes increased, that -the huts in the wilderness were as 
full as the birds' nests of the woods." 

In 1632, Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic nobleman re- 
ceived a grant of the territory which, in honour of Henrietta 
Maria, wife of Charles I., he called Maryland. This he held 
by feudal tenure, paying only a yearly rent of two Indian 
arrows, and a fifth of all the gold and silver found. Catholics 
and Protestants alike enjoyed rehgious toleration, and by 1660 
Its population had increased to ten thousand souls. 

Plymouth colony was the offspring of religious impulse A 
company of English Puritans had sought, in the republic of 
Holland, that Hberty of worship which they were denied in 
their own land. " Moved by a hope and inward zeal of ad- 
vancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ, in the remote 
parts of the New World," as they devoutly declared, they 
fitted out two small vessels, the "Speedwell" and the -May- 
flower," of immortal memory, for the purpose of planting a colony 
in New England. After disaster and delays, the ' ' Mayflower " 
alone proceeded on her voyage, on the 6th of September, 1620, 
bearing into self-sought exile for conscience' sake, one hundred 
and one persons. They landed first on the barren sand-dunes 
of Cape Cod, and afterward, on Christmas Day, on Plymouth 
Rock. The winter was long and severe. Before spring, half 
of their number had died, and the survivors were scarcely able 
to bury the dead. Yet, when the vessel that brought them 
returned to England, 

" O strong hearts and true ! not one went back with the Mayfloiver" 

At the beginning of the following winter, came a new arrival 
of immigrants, but no supplies of food. For four months they 
lived on clams, mussels, ground-nuts, and acorns. The third 



ENGLISH COLONIZATIOy. 73 

year was also a time of pinching want, but prosperity at length 
gradually dawned upon the town of Plymouth. Amid such suf- 
fermgs and privations are the foundations of empire laid. 

In the year 1628, a Puritan colony, from the shires of Dor- 
set and Lincoln, England, numbering about a hundred per- 
sons, animated by intense religious zeal, formed a settlement at 
Salem, in Massachusetts Bay. The following year, two hun- 
dred more arrived. But the infant colony was cradled in suf- 
fering. This year eighty persons died from disease and un- 
wonted exposure. The next year fifteen hundred arrived, leso. 
but before December two hundred had died, and another hun- 
dred, disheartened by disaster, returned to England. 

The following year only ninety persons arrived. But, amid 
sickness and sufiering, no trace of repining appears in the lesi. 
records of the colony. The early settlements were chiefly art 
Salem, Charlestown, and Boston. Notwithstanding temporary 
reverses, the population continued to increase, as many as 
three thousand immigrants arriving in a single year. less. 
Among the citizens of the new religious commonwealth, were 
such distinguished divines as Cotton and Hooker ; and Eliot and 
Mayhew, the apostles to the Indians, who, laying aside the pride 
of learning, instructed the savage neophytes of the forest in 
the doctrines of the Gospel ; and such laymen as Governor 
Winthrop, the sturdy Endicott, the younger Vane, friend 
of Milton and martyr of liberty, and others of honoured 
memory. 

One of these, Roger Williams, became the founder of the 
province of Ehode Island. Of enlarged and liberal mind, he 
entertained views on religious toleration, far in advance of his 
time. Exiled for these opinions from Massachusetts colony, he 
wandered, in the bitter winter of 1635-36, for fourteen weeks 
through the pathless forests ; and in the following June, with 
five companions, planted, " as a shelter for persons distressed 
in conscience," the settlement, to which, in expression of his 
confidence in God, he gave the name of Providence. 

This same year, a Massachusetts colony of one hundred per- 
sons, settled in the beautiful Connecticut valley, under the 

10 



74 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

guidance of the pious divine, Thomas Hooker, and two years 
163 after, another, led by John Davenport, its pastor, in New 
Haven. The previous year (1637) the first New England In- 
dian war broke out. The outrages of the Pequods compelled 
the Connecticut settlers to resort to arms. About sixty men, 
one-third of the whole colony, attacked a fort garrisoned by 
ten times their number, which they consumed, with its inmates, 
and utterly exterminated the Pequod nation, a community of 
over two thousand souls — an act of extreme and unjustifiable 
severity. 

Political unity was given to these scattered colonies by a 
1643. confederacy, formed by mutual agreement, for defence 
against the Indians, the French, and the Dutch. The growth 
of the colonial trade was rapid, and began to awaken the jeal- 
ousy of the English merchants ; and by the Navigation Act of 
1651, extended in 1672, the colonies were excluded from coast- 
wise and transatlantic commerce, which could only be prosecuted 
in English vessels. The increase in population also excited the 
hostility of the native tribes, who were already outnumbered on 
their own soil,* and were destined to be pushed ever backward 
before the advancing tide of white immigration and expansion, f 

We return, to follow more minutely the varying fortunes of 
1636. New France. M. De Montmagny,J the successor of 
Champlain, arrived in Canada in 1636. He was a member of 
the military-religious order of the Knights of Malta. He en- 
tered, with hearty sympathy, into the pious enthusiasm of the 
Jesuits. As with his train of officers and gentlemen he 
climbed the cliif of Quebec, he prostrated himself before a 

* In 1675, the white population of New England was estimated at 55,000, and 
the Indian population at 30,000. 

t As early as 1615, the Dutch had a trading post at Albany. In 1623, they 
founded New Amsterdam, now New York, In 1638, the Swedes colonized Dela- 
ware, but were compelled to cede their territory to the Dutch in 1655. The 
Dutch, in turn, were obliged, in 1664, to yield their possessions to the English, 
now supreme from Acadia to Florida, which last, in 1764, the Spaniards ceded 
in exchange for Havana and Louisiana. 

I From this Governor is derived the name Onontio, applied by the Indians to 
all his successors. It is the translation into their language of his name, and 
siiniifies " Great Mountain." 



THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 75 

crucifix by the pathway, followed by all his attendants. He 
stood as godfather at the baptism of a savage proselyte. He 
held a burning taper at the funeral of another. Side by side 
with an Indian neophyte, he bore the canopy of the host. 
The very atmosphere of Quebec was one of religious observ- 
ance. Morning, noon, and night the sweet clangour of the 
bells rang out the call to prayer. Soldiers, artisans, and 
labourers daily thronged the church for mass and vespers. Ab- 
sence from service, or the sin of blasphemy, was punished by 
exposure in a pillory at the church door. 

Yet, amid this spiritual prosperity, the temporal affairs of 
the colony were much depressed. The Company of the Hun- 
dred Associates, from which so much had been expected, did 
little but send a few vessels annually to traffic with the natives. 
Instead of transporting four thousand colonists in fifteen years, 
in the thirty-five years of its existence it did not send out one 
thousand. At Champlain's death, there were only two hundred 
and fifty Europeans in the colony. In five years more, scarce 
a hundred were added. In 1648, the European population was 
only eight hundred, and in 1662, when the company's charter 
was annulled, it was le«s than two thousand, most of whom had 
come out without its aid. So slowly, as compared with that of 
Virginia and New England, did the population of New France 
increase. 

Nevertheless, an intense interest in the colony was kindled in 
the mother country. For forty years, from 1632 to 1672, the 
Jesuit Fathers sent home to the Superior of the Order, annual 
" Relations" of the progress of the Indian missions, which cir- 
culated widely throughout France.* Several families of rank 
and fortune were induced to immigrate with their servants and 
dependants, and received grants of land on seigneurial tenure, 
to be hereafter described Many persons devoted to religion, 
also, both priests and nuns, eager to engage in missionary toil 
among the savages, came to Canada. 

* These -were collected and published in three large 8vo volumes by the Ca- 
nadian GoTernment in 1858. They are a perfect mine of information on early 
Canadian history. 



76 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

In the Church of Montmartre perpetual prayer was offered . 
for the mission, by a succession of nuns lying prostrate, day 
and night, before the altar. In many a convent cell, gentle 
hearts glowed with inextinguishable longings, to teach the 
dusky children of the wilderness the story of the love of Mary 
and of Christ. 

One of the most remarkable of these fair devotees was 
Madame de la Peltrie, a lady of wealth and noble birth, who, 
left a childless widow at the age of twenty-two, burned, with an 
ardent passion to found a seminary for Indian girls in Canada. 
With her came Marie Guyart, better known by her conventual 
name of Marie de I'lncarnation, who had also been left a widow 
at tha age of twenty. With several companions, they arrived 
at Quebec in 1639. As they landed from their floating prison, 
they kissed the soil that was to be the scene of their pious 
labours, and were received with enthusiasm by the inhabitants, 
and with firing of cannon, and the best military parade of the 
little garrison. 

The intense religious enthusiasm of the nuns soon found 
employment in nursing the victims of the loathsome small-pox, 
which had broken out with extreme virulence in the foul cabins 
of the natives. In three years, the massive stone convent, on 
the site still occupied by the Ursuline nuns, was reared, and 
beneath the shade of the tall ash-tree yet standing, ISlary of 
the Incarnation instructed the Indian children in the truths of 
salvation. For thirty-two years, she and Madame de la Peltrie 
lived and laboured among these savage tribes, and then, almost 
at the same time, ceased from their pious toil. 

The Hotel Dieu, a hospital for the sick, was also endowed by 
the celebrated Duchesse d'Aiguillon, niece of Cardinal Hiche- 
lieu. The Marquis de Silleri, a Knight of Malta, who had 
renounced the world and devoted his immense wealth to the 
service of the Church, had founded, in the little cove four 
miles above Quebec which still bears his name, a mission, 
which was early baptized in blood. Le Jeune collected some 
Indian children, taught them the Lord's Prayer and Creed in 
Latin, and declared that he would not exchange his position 



THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 



li 



for a chair in the first university of Europe. Thus, almost 
before there were inhabitants in Quebec, were provided the 
charities and institutions of Christian civilization. 

A notable event now took place, of strange and romantic 
interest. The annual ' ' Eelations " of the Jesuits created, as 
we have seen, in religious circles in France an intense enthu- 
siasm to share the honours and celestial rewards of toil for the 
salvation of the savages. It is asserted that M. de la Dauver- 
siere, a receiver of taxes, and Father Olier, a young priest, 
simultaneously conceived the idea, or rather, as they i64o. 
believed, the Divine suggestion of establishing on the island of 
Montreal, although it was yet Mnthout inhabitants, a seminary, 
a hospital, and a college. The zeal of pious ladies and wealthy 
devotees ^vas kindled ; the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars 
was raised, and the Association of Notre Dame de Montreal 
was formed, consisting of forty-five persons. A grant of the 
island Avas obtained, and Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maison- 
neuve, a devout and valiant soldier, received the appointment 
of Governor. In the venerable cathedral of Notre Dame, by a 
solemn ceremonial, the mission was consecrated to the Holy 
Family, under the title of Ville Marie de Montreal. Commer- 
cial speculation had no part in the undertaking, for the asso- 
ciates had pledged themselves to refrain from the lucrative fur 
trade. The inevitable attacks by the savages had no terrors, 
although the site of the mission was a most perilous outpost — 
" a hand thrust into a wolfs den." The new settlement was 
the ofispring solely of religious enthusiasm. 

Jealous probably of a prospective rival, or apprehensive of 
the dangers which must be incurred, Montmagiiy endeavoured 
to induce Maisonneuve to remain at the Island of Orleans, but 
the latter resolved to brave the perils of the frontier post. " I 
have come not to deliberate, but to act," he exclaimed, " and I 
will go to Montreal, though every tree were an Iroquois." 

In the spring of 1642, the little flotilla bearing the founders 
of the new mission glided up the river — Montmagny, as re^jre- 
senting the Hundred Associates, Maisonneuve, the Jesuit Vi- 
mont, Madame de la Peltrie, Mademoiselle Jeanne Mance, and 



78 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

about forty soldiers, artisans and labourers. As tbey landed 
(May 17th), they fell upon their knees and sang a hymn of 
thanksffivinff. An altar was soon erected and decked with 
flowers, and, in that magnificent amphitheatre of nature, Father 
Yimont celebrated mass and invoked the blessing of Heaven on 
the new colonists. ' ' You are a grain of mustard-seed," he said, 
"that shall rise and grow till its branches overshadow the earth. 
God's smile is upon you, and your children shall fill the land." 
Thus piously were laid the foundations of Ville Marie de Mon- 
treal, the future commercial metropolis of Canada. 

With the early dawn, the little colony was alert. There was 
hard work to be done before the settlement could be regarded 
as at all safe. Seizing an axe, and wielding it as dextrously 
as he had often wielded his good sword in battle, Maisonneuve 
felled the first tree. The outline of a little fort was traced, 
the Governor himself working with spade and mattock in 
digging the trench. The scene revived in the classic mind of 
Yimont the traditions of the founding of the storied City of 
the Seven Hills. But here, his prescient vision beheld the 
founding of a new Rome, a mother city of the faith, which 
should nourish and bring up children in the wilderness, 
extending her j)ower over savage races an.d her protection to 
far-off missions. 

In a short time a strong palisade was erected, enclosing a 
spot of ground situated in a meadow between the river and the 
present Place d'Armes, near the site of the stately church o^ 
Notre Dame. The little fort was daily strengthened, a few 
cannon were mounted, and loop-holes were made for musketry. 
1643. The following year the mission was re-enforced, and con- 
tinued gradually to increase, notwithstanding the frequent 
attacks of the ferocious Iroquois, by which several of the 
settlers were slain. The terror of the savages at the firearms 
of the French was largely overcome by their familiarity with 
those weapons. Indeed, many of them had obtained carbines 
from the Dutch traders at Fort Orange (Albany), and had 
learned to use them with fatal effect. Growing more audacious 
with success, they formed a concerted plan for the extermina- 



THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. * 79 

tion of the French. Seven hundred savage warriors attacked 
the fort, planted by Montmagny, at the mouth of the Richelieu. 
They swarmed up to the palisades, thrust their guns through 
the loop-holes, fought with desperate courage, and were with 
great difficulty repulsed. Beneath the very guns of Quebec, 
Three Rivers, and Montreal, they lay in wait for their human 
prey. No man could hunt, or fish, or fell a tree, or cultivate 
the meagre lands around the settlements, without the risk of his 
life. A sudden volley, a fiendish yell, a swift rush, and the 
naked savages vanished into the wood with their booty of 
bleeding scalp, leaving their mangled victim dead or dying on 
the ground. 

The audacious Iroquois threatened to exterminate the Huron 
and Algonquin allies of the French. These wretched beings 
were wasted by famine and pestilence, and were thoroughly 
cowed by fear. Their hunting-grounds were invaded by their 
ruthless foe, and they were reduced at times to subsist on the 
bark of trees and the raw-hide thongs of their snow-shoes. 
Let one example of the atrocities of savage warfare suffice. 
A band of Algonquins retreated in midwinter to the forest 
recesses far up the Ottawa to hunt moose. They were tracked 
by the stealthy and persistent Iroquois, who burst at midnight 
upon the encampment. Many of the sleepers were slain on 
the spot. The survivors were dragged twenty days' journey 
to the Mohawk towns. On these their captors wreaked their 
utmost rage. They hacked their bodies with knives and shells, 
scorched them with burning brands, and after exhausting every 
mode of inflicting suffering, in their unhallowed frenzy they 
devoured the quivering flesh. " They are not men but wolves," 
said a wretched squaw, who, escaping their tortures, found her 
way to Quebec. 

A temporary peace was at length concluded with the Iro- 
quois. The kindly ti^eatment by the French of some Mohawk 
prisoners, whom they had ransomed from their Algonquin 
allies — an act as politic as it was Christian — touched with grati- 
tude even the savage nature of those warriors, who had 
expected nothing but torture and death. One of these was 



80 -- HISTORY OF CANADA. 

sent home to his tribe, with the promise that the others would 
be liberated if the Iroquois would make a treaty of peace. 

1645. Mohawk envoys accordingly appeared the following 
summer at Three Elvers, and after much feasting, speech-mak- 
ing, and many songs, dances, and gifts of wampum, the war- 
hatchet was buried and the peace-pipe was smoked. *' Let the 
clouds be dispersed ; let the sun shine on all the land between 
us," said the Iroquois. " We have thrown the hatchet so high 
in the air, that no arm on earth can reach to bring it down. 
The spirits of our braves that have been slain in war have gone 
so deep into the earth that they can never be heard calling for 
vengeance." " I place a stone on the graves," replied an 
Algonquin chief, " that no one may move their bones." 

The following year this treaty was solemnly ratified, with 

1646. many more speeches and wampum-belts. But before long 
the peace concluded with such imposing ceremony was wantonly 
broken by the caprice of the Iroquois. Soon the hunters of 
men were again on the war-path, pursuing their human prey. 

1647. The tragic scenes of massacre and burning and cannibal 
feasting were repeated, with all their sickening atrocities. The 
fort at the mouth of the Richelieu was pillaged and destroyed, 
and the settlements on the St. Lawrence were threatened with 
extermination. 

Upon the Jesuit missionaries and their Indian converts fell 
the cruel brunt of this savage war. That subtle and sinister 
system, which, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had 
belted the world with its missions, and won renown and execra- 
tion in almost every land, gained some of its grandest triumphs 
and exhibited its most heroic spirit in the wilderness of Canada. 
The Jesuits had numbered as converts hundreds of thousands 
of baptized pagans in India and the Moluccas, in China and 
Japan, in Brazil and Paraguay. They almost entirely controlled 
the religious education of youth in Europe ; and kept the con- 
sciences of kings, nobles, and great ladies, who sought at their 
feet spiritual guidance and counsel. They had won well-merited 
fame for attainments in ancient learning, for modem sci- 
ence, for pulpit eloquence, and for subtle statecraft. Under 



THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. gj^ 

the disguise of a Brahmin, a mandarin, an astrologer, a peas- 
ant, a scholar, they had compassed the world to make prose- 
lytes to Eome. Deciphering ancient manuscripts or inscriptions, 
sweeping the heavens with the telescope, or digging the earth 
with a mattock, editing the classics or ancient Fathers, or 
teaching naked savages the Ave or Credo, they were alike the 
obedient and zealous servants of their Order, to whose ad- 
vancement their whole being was devoted. They were at once 
among the greatest friends of human learning and the most 
deadly enemies of civil liberty. 

But nowhere did the Jesuit missionaries exhibit grander 
moral heroism, or sublimer self-sacrifice ; nowhere did they 
encounter greater sufferings, with more pious fortitude, or 
meet with a more tragical fate, than in the wilderness-missions 
of New France. They were the pioneers of civilization, the 
pathfinders of empire on this continent. With breviary and 
crucifix, at the command of the Superior of the Order at 
Quebec, they wandered all over the vast country stretching 
from the rocky shores of Nova Scotia to the distant prairies of 
the Far West, from the regions around Hudson's Bay to the 
mouth of the Mississippi Eiver. Paddling all day in their bark 
canoes ; sleeping at night on the naked rock ; toiling over ruo-- 
ged portages, or through pathless forests ; pinched by hunger, 
gnawed to the bone by cold, often dependent for subsistence on 
acorns, the bark of trees, or the bitter moss to which they have 
given their name ; * lodging in Indian wigwams, whose acrid 
smoke blinded their eyes, and whose obscene riot was unutter- 
ably loathsome to every sense ; braving peril and persecution, 
and death itself, they persevered in their path of self-sacrifice, 
for the glory of God,t the salvation of souls, the advancement 
of their Order, and the extension of New France. '<Not a 
cape was turned, not a river was entered," writes Bancroft, 
" but a Jesuit led the way." 

* "Jesuits' moss," — Mj)e de rocfte — a coarse, edible lichen Tvhicli abounds in 
the northern wastes, 
t Ad majorem gloriam Dei, is the motto of the Order of Jesus. 
11 



82 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

As early as 1626, Jean de Brebeuf established a mission 
among the Hurons on the shores of the Georgian Bay. 

In 1641, Peres Jogiies and Eaymbault told the story of the 
Cross to a wondering assembly of two thousand red men beside 
the rushing rapids of St. Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior, 
five years before Eliot had preached the Gospel to the Indians 
within gunshot of Boston town. 

The story of Jogues' subsequent adventures is one of tragic 
1643, interest. The following summer, returning from Quebec 
with supplies for the Huron Mission, his party were surprised 
by the Iroquois on Lake St. Peter, and carried prisoners to the 
]\Iohawk towns. Every indignity and torture that the human 
frame can endure, were wreaked upon the wretched priest, — a 
man of gentle birth, delicate culture, and scholarly training, — 
and his companions. With mangled hands, and bruised and 
bleeding body, he was dragged, in savage triumph, from town 
to town, the sport of wanton boys and cruel squaws. His 
companions, having been murdered or burned at the stake, 
Jogues wandered through the wintry woods ; carved the cross 
and the name of Jesus on the trees, and lifted his voice in a 
litany of sorrow. But his soul was sustained by visions of his 
Divine Master, and by the holy joy of being enabled to bap- 
tize by stealth, no less than seventy Mohawk children, and thus, 
as he fondly believed, to snatch their souls from eternal per- 
dition. 

After a series of hair-breadth escapes, he was rescued by the 
Dutch at Fort Orange, and was restored to France. Feted and 
caressed by the Queen of Louis XIIL, and by the ladies of 
the court, he longed to engage once more in his self-sacrificing 
missionary toils, and, with the early spring, took ship again for 
Canada. Undaunted by the agonies he had endured, he returned 
to the scene of his sufferings, to establish among the Mohawks 
the Mission of the Martyrs, as it was prophetically named. 
" /5o et non redibo, — I shall go, but I shall not return," he 
said, with a just presentiment of his fate, as he parted from his 
friends. He was soon barbarously murdered, and thus received 
the martyr's starry and unwithering crown (1644). 



THE HUNDRED ASSOCIATES. 83 

Similar was the fate of Bressani, an Italian Jesuit. Taken 
prisoner like Jogues, while on his way to the Huron Mission, 
scarred, scourged, beaten, mangled, burned, and tortured, with 
hungiy dogs fed off his naked body, he still continued to live. 
" I could not have believed," he wrote, " that a man was so hard 
to kill." 

" I do not know," he says, in his letter to the General of the 
Order at Home, "if your Paternity will recognize the writing 
of one whom you once knew very well. The letter is soiled 
and ill-written, because the writer has only one finger of his 
right hand left entire, and cannot prevent the blood from his 
wounds, which are still open, from staining .the paper. His 
ink is gunpowder mixed with water, and his table is the 
ground." He, too, was rescued by the Dutch at Fort Orange, 
returned to France, but eagerly hastened, as if in love with 
death, back to the scene of his sufferings and his toils.* 

"^ Of the Jesuit missionaries in Canada not a few earned tlie honoured title of 
martyrs and confessors of the faith. Among these were Peres Daniel, 
Brebenf, Lalemant, Garnier, Garrean, Jogues, Buteus and Chabanet ; and Gou- 
pil, Brul6 and Lalande, lay labourers ; who died by violence in the service of the 
mission. De None was frozen to death in the snow ; and Bressani, Chatelaine, 
Chaumonot, Couture, and others, endured tortures far worse than death. 



84 HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE WILDEENESS MISSIONS. 

The Huron Mission — Br^beuf, Lalemant, Daniel, Davost — Trials and Triumphs 
of the Missionaries — The Mission of Ste. Marie — Iroquois Massacre and 
Christian Martyrdom — A Winter of Horrors — Destruction of the Huron Mis- 
sion, 1648-1649 — Iroquois Eavages — The Onondaga Mission planted, 1656 — 
A. menaced Massacre — Mission abandoned, 1658 — A masterly Euse — Dulac 
des Ormeaux — A brave Defence — The Thermopylas of Canada — D' Ailleboust^ 
De Lauson, D'Argenson, D'Avaugour, successive Governors — The Abb6 
Laval, first Vicar Aj)ostolic — The Liquor Traffic — Charter of the Hundred 
Associates annulled, 1663 — Earthquakes. 

THE region between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, which 
is now a rich agricultural district, was, two centuries and 
a half ago, the home of the numerous and powerful Huron nation 
of Indians. Much of this region is still covered with what seems 
to be a virgin forest, yet the plough and the axe of the pioneer 
often bring to light the relics of a former population, concern- 
ing whom local tradition is silent, and of whom the lingering 
red men of the present know nothing Yet in the pages of 
history live the records of this lost race, written with a fidelity 
and vigour that rehabilitate the past, and bring us face to face 
with this extinct nation. The forty annual volumes of Rela- 
tions des Jesuites contain a minute and graphic account by men 
of scholastic training, keen insight, and cultivated powers of 
observation, of the daily life, the wars and conflicts, the social, 
and especially the religious condition, of this strange people. 
As we read these quaint old pages, we are present at the fire- 
sides and the festivals of the Huron nation ; we witness their 
superstitious rites and usages, their war and medicine dances, 
and their funeral customs ; and, at length, as the result of the 
pious zeal of the Jesuit missionaries, their general adoption of 
Christianity and their celebration of Christian worship. 

In the region between the Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe, and 



TEE WILDERXESS MISSIOXS. 85 

the river Severn, in the year 1639, were no less than thirty- 
two Huron villages, with an estimated population of about 
thirty thousand. These villages were not mere squalid collec- 
tions of wigwams, but consisted of well-built dwellings, about 
thirty or thirty-five feet high, as many wide, and sometimes 
thirty and even a hundred yards long. They were generally 
well fortified by a ditch, rampart, and three or four rows of 
palisades, and sometimes had flanking bastions which covered 
the front with a cross-fire. The inhabitants were not mere 
Imnting nomads, but an agricultural people, who laid up ample 
stores of provisions, chiefly Indian corn, for their maintenance 
during the winter. 

As early as 1626, Jean de Brebeuf, the apostle of the 
Hurons, had visited, and for three years remained among these 
savage tribes. On Kirk's conquest of Quebec he was recalled, 
but in 1634, accompanied by Peres Daniel and Davost, he 
returned under a savage escort to the temporaril}^ abandoned 
mission. By a tortuous route of nine hundred miles up the 
Ottawa, and through Lake Nipissing, French Eiver, and the 
Georgian Bay, they reached the Bay of Penetanguishene. 
Over five-and-thirty portages, sometimes several miles long, 
often steep and rugged, through tangled forests and over sharp 
rocks that lacerated their naked feet, the missionary pioneers 
helped to bear their bark canoes and their contents. Fifty 
times they had to plunge into rapids, and, wading or stumbling 
over bowlders in the rocky channel, to drag the laden boats 
against an arrowy stream. With drenched and tattered gar- 
ments, with weary and fasting frames, with bruised and man- 
gled feet, stung by mosquitoes and venomous insects, they had 
to sleep on the damp earth oj naked rock. " But amid it all," 
writes Brebeuf, " my soul enjoyed a sublime contentment, 
knowing that all I sufiered was for God."* Separated from 
his comj)anions and abandoned by his perfidious escort, Brebeuf 
ofiered himself and all his labours to God for the salvation of 



* " Mon dme ressentoit de tr^s-grands contentmens, consid€rant que ie 
Ruffrois pour Dieu." — Brebeuf, Relation des Rurons, 1635, p. 26. 



36 EISTOBY OF CANADA. 

tliese poor savages,* and pressed through the woods to the scene 
of his former toil. He found that Brule, a fellow-countryman, 
had been cruelly murdered in his absence, and, with prophetic 
instinct, anticipated the same fate for himself, but desired only 
that it might be in advancing the glory of God. Davost and 
Daniel soon after arrived, a mission house and chapel were 
built, and the latter decorated with a few pictures, images, and 
sacred vessels, brought with much trouble over the long and 
difficult route from Quebec. Here the Christian altar Was 
reared, surpliced priests chanted the ancient litanies of the 
Church, whose unwonted sounds awoke strange echoes in the 
forest aisles, and savage tribes were besought by the death of 
Christ and love of Mary to seek the salvation of the Cross. 

But, by weary years of hope deferred, the missionaries' faith 
was sorely tried. They toiled and preached and prayed and 
fasted, without any apparent reward of their labour ; the ram- 
parts of error seemed impregnable. The hosts of hell seemed 
leagued against them. The Indian " sorcerers," as the Jesuits 
called the medicine men, whom they believed to be the imps of 
Satan, if not, indeed, his human impersonation, stirred up the 
passions of their tribes against the mystic medicine men of the 
pale-faces. These were the cause, they alleged, of the fearful 
drought that parched the land, of the dread pestilence that 
consumed the people ; the malign spell of their presence neu- 
tralized the skill of the hunter and the valour of the bravest 
warrior. The chanting of their sacred litanies was mistaken 
for a magic incantation, and the mysterious ceremonies of the 
mass for a malignant conjury. The cross was a charm of evil 
potency, blasting the crops and afirighting the thunder-bird that 
brought the refreshing rain. 

The missionaries walked in the shadow of a perpetual peril. 
Often the tomahawk gleamed above their heads or a deadly 
ambush lurked for their lives. But beneath the protection of 
St. Mary and St. Joseph, as they devoutly believed, they 

* " M'offris a nostre Seigneur, avec tous nos petits travaux, pour le salut de 
ces pauvres peuples." — Br6beuf, Relation des Rurons, 1635, p. 28. 



THE WILDERXESS MISSIOXS. 87 

walked unliurt. The mui'derous Land was restrained, tlie 
death-winged arrow was turned aside ; undismayed by their 
danger, undeterred by lowering looks and muttered curses, the}'' 
calmly went on their way of mercy. In winter storms and 
summer heat, from plague-smitten town to town, they jour- 
neyed through the dreary forest, to administer their homely 
simples to the victims of the loathsome small-pox, to exhort 
the dying, to absolve the penitent, and, where possible, to 
hallow with Christian rites the burial of the dead. The wail 
of a sick child, faintly heard through the bark walls of an in- 
fected cabin, was an irresistible appeal to the missionaries' 
heart. Heedless of the scowling glance or rude insult, they 
would enter the dwelling, and, by stealth or guile, they would 
administer the sacred rite which snatched an infant soul from 
endless perdition, — from the jaws of the ''Infernal TTolf."* 
They shared the privations and discomforts of savage life. 
They endured the tonnents of filth and vermin, of stifling, 
acrid smoke, parching the throat and inflaming the eyes till the' 
letters of the breviary seemed wiitten in blood. Often they 
had no privacy for devotion save in the dim crypts of the ■ 
forest, where, carving a cross upon a tree, they chanted 'their 
solemn litanies till, gnawed to the bone by the piercing cold, 
they returned to the reeking hut and the foul orgies of pagan 
superstition. 

Yet the hearts of the missionaries quailed not ; they were 
sustained by a lofty enthusiasm that courted danger as a con- 
dition of success. The gentle Lalemant praj'-ed that if the 
blood of the martjTS were the necessary seed of the Church, 
its effusion should not be wanting. Nor did the mission lack in 
time that dread baptism. The pious Fathers believed that 
powers supernal and infernal fought for them or against them 
in their assault upon the kingdom of Satan. On the side, of 
Christ, His Virgin Mother, and the blessed Gospel were legions 

* "Co lonp infernal." Thus, as they phrased it, the dying infants Tvere 
changed "from little savages to little angels." Of a thousand baptisms in 1639, 
all hut t-^enty ^rere baptized in immediate danger of death. Tx\*o hundred 
and sixty ^vere infants, and many more quite young. 



88 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

of angels and the sworded seraphim. Opj^osed to them were 
all the powers of darkness, aided by those imps of the pit, the 
dreaded " sorcerers," whom Satan clothed with vicarious skill 
to baffle the efforts of the missionaries and the prayers of the 
holy saints. Foul fiends haunted the air, and their demoniac 
shrieks or blood-curdhng laughter could be heard in the wailiiig 
night-wind, or in the howling of the wolves down the dim 
forest-aisles. More dreadful still, assuming lovely siren forms, 
they assailed the missionary on the side of his human weak- 
ness ; but at the holy sign of the cross the baneful spell was 
broken — the tempting presence melted into air.* 

Yet, with these intensely realistic conceptions of their ghostly 
foes, the Jesuits shrank not from the conflict with Hell itself. 
Emparadised in beatific vision, they beheld the glorious palace 
of the skies prepared, a heavenly voice assured them, for those 
who dwelt in savage hovels for the cause of God on earth. 
Angelic visitants, in visions of the night, cheered their lonely 
vigils, and enbraved their souls for living martjrrdom.f 

Such enthusiasm as that of these impassioned devotees was 
not without its unfailing reward. Inveterate prejudice was 
overcome, bitter hostility was changed to tender affection, and 
the worn and faded black cassock, the cross and rosary hanging 
from the girdle, and the wide-brimmed hat of the Jesuit mis- 
sionary became the objects of loving regard instead of the 
symbols of a dreaded spiritual power. The Indians abandoned 
their cruel and cannibal practices. Many of them received 
Christian baptism. In the rude forest sanctuary was broken to 
savage neophytes the sacred bread which the crowned monarchs 
of Europe received from the hands of mitred priests beneath 
cathedral domes. 

The little children were taught to repeat the Ave, the Credo, 
and the Pater I^oster. Rude natures were touched to human 



* Eagueneau, Belation dcs Miirons, 1649, p. 24. One ctapter of the Belations ia 
headed. Du r'egne de Satan en ces confrees, which the simple Fathers designated 
the very fortress and donjon-keep of demons — une des principales forteresses, 
et comme nn donjon des Demons. 

t Belation, 1649, p. 24. 



THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 89 

tenderness and pity by tlie patlietic story of a Saviour's love ; 
and lawless passions were restrained by the dread menace of 
eternal flames. Savage manners and unholy pagan rites gave 
way to Christian decorum and pious devotion, and the implac- 
able red men learned to pray for their enemies.* 

The scattered missionaries were reinforced by pious recruits 
drawn across the sea by an impassioned zeal that knew no 
abatement, even unto death. At almost every Indian toT\Ti was 
a mission established and consecrated by some holy name. 
Thus in the northern half of what is now the county of Simcoe, 
were the missions of St. Michel, St. Joseph, St. Jean, St. 
Jean Baptiste, St. Louis, St. Denys, St. Antoine, St. Charles, 
St. Ignace,f St. Frangois Xavier, Ste. Marie, Ste. Anne, Ste. 
Agnes, Ste. Catherine, Ste. Cecile, St. Genevieve, Ste. Made- 
leine, Ste. Therese, and several others. The most important 
of these was that of Ste. Marie, established in 1640, on a small 
stream, now known as the river A^^ye, which flows into Glouces- 
ter Bay, itself an inlet of the Georgian Bay, not far from the 
present town of Penetanguishene. The outlines of the fortifi- 
cation, for it was both fort and mission, may still be traced 
amid the forest, which has long since overgrown the spot. A 
wall of combined masonry and palisades, flanked by bastions at 
the angles, enclosed a space of some thirty by sixty yards, con- 
taining a church, a mission residence, a kitchen, and a refectory. 
"Without the walls were a large house for Indian visitors, a 
hospital for the sick, and a cemetery for the dead. Sometimes 
as many as sixty white men were assembled at the mission, 

* That, in someinstances a't least, the conversion of the Indians Tvas not a 
merely nominal one, but a radical change of disiiosition, is evidenced by the 
following prayer of a Huron tribe for their hereditary foes, the crnel Iroquois : 
"Pardon, O Lord, those who pursue us with fury, who destroy us with such 
rage. Open their blind eyes ; make them to know Thee and to love Thee, and 
then, being Thy friends, they will also be ours, and we shall together be Thy 
children." Vincent, Eelaiion, 1645, p. 16. A more signal triumph of grace over 
the implacable hate of the Indian nature it is difficult to conceive. " Let us 
strive," exclaimed another convert, "to make the whole world embrace the 
faith in Jesus." 

t The frequency of this designation, throughout the whole of New France, 
attests the veneration in which the founder of the Society of Jesus was held. 
12 



90 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

among whom were eight or ten soldiers, as^nany hired labour- 
ers, about a score of men serving without pay, and as man^^ 
priests ; most of the latter, however, were generally engaged 
in the various out-missions. The demands upon the hospitality 
of Ste. Marie were very great. As many as six thousand 
Christian Indians were lodged and fed in a single year. But 
the Fathers bestowed such care on agriculture, sometimes them- 
selves working with spade and mattock, that in 1648 they had 
provisions laid up suiScient for three years. They had also a 
considerable quantity of live-stock, including fowls, swine, and 
even horned cattle, brought with infinite trouble through the 
wilderness. • 

But this prosperitj'' was destined to be rudely interrupted, 
and to have a tragic close. 

The terrible Iroquois waged perpetual war against their 
hereditary foes, the Hurons. Urged by implacable hate, large 
war parties would travel on snow-shoes through a pathless 
forest for hundreds of miles, to burn and destroy the Huron 
villages, and indiscriminately massacre their inhabitants, not 
merely the warriors, but the old men, the women, the little 
children. No distance was too great, no perils too formidable, 
if they might only glut their thirst for Huron blood. Even 
single individuals lurked for weeks near the walls of Quebec 
or Montreal, for the opportunity to win a Huron scalp. The 
ubiquitous and blood-thirsty wretches infested the forest, lay 
in ambush at the portages of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence, 
and sprang, like a tiger on his prey, on the straggling parties 
of their foes. 

This tempest of heathen rage, in 1648 was let loose on the 
Christian missions. The storm burst on the frontier village of 
St. Joseph, situated not far from the present town of Barrie, 
on the morning of July 4th. This village had two thousand 
inhabitants, and was well fortified, but most of the warriors 
were absent at the hunt, or on distant journeys. Pere Daniel, 
who for fourteen years had here laboured in the Gospel, arrayed 
in the vestments of his office had just finished the celebration 
of the mass in the crowded mission chapel, when the dread 



THE WILDERXESS MISSIONS. 



91 



^arwliooiD of the Iroquois was heard. The iDainted saA-ages 
rushed through the uniDrotected openings in the palisade, mur- 
dering all whom thej met. Unable to baptize separately the 
multitude who, hitherto impenitent, now sought this ordinance, 
Pere Daniel dipped his handkerchief in water and, shaking it 
over the terrified crowd, exclaimed: " My brethren, to-day 
we shall be in Heaven." * Absohdng the dying, and baptizing 
the penitent, he refused to escape. " Fly, brothers," he cried 
to his flock. ''I will die here. \^q shall meet again in 
Heaven." f Boldly fronting the foe, he received in his bosom 
a sheaf of arrows, and a ball from a deadly arquebuse. " He 
fell," says the contemporary chronicler,- '« murmuring the name 
of Jesus, and yielding, joyously, his soul to God,— truly a 
good shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep." % 

Seven hundred persons, mostly women or children, were 
captured or IdUed. The body of the proto-martyr of the 
Huron Mission was burned to ashes, but his intrepid spirit, it 
was believed, appeared again among the living, animating their 
hearts to endure unto the bitter end. And not for one moment 
did they quail. 'M7e cannot hope," writes Eagueneau, his 
companion in toil and tribulation, " but to follow in the burning 
path which he has trod, but we will gladly suffer for the glory 
of the Master whom we serve." 

The next act of this tragedy opens eight months later, in the 
early spring of 1649. A thousand Iroquois warriors had, dur- 
ing the winter, made their way from near the Hudson Eiver, 
round the head of Lake Ontario, and across the western penin- 
sula to the Huron country. The object of attack was the vil- 
lage of St. Ignace, situated about ten miles northwest of the 
present town of OriUia. It was completely surprised in the 
early dawn of March 16th, and taken almost without a blow.§ 

^''Mes Fibres, nous serons aujourdliuy dans le Ciel."- Eagueneau, i?e?afio« 
des Hurons, 1649, p. 3. o , 

t "Fuyez, mes Fr&res. Pour .moy, ie dois mourir icy; nous nous reverrons 
clans le Ciel."— /&., p. 4. 

. X'^ll toniba pronoueant, le nom de J6sus, en reudant heureusement son dme 
^ Uieu, vrayment un bon Pasteur, qui expose et son dme et sa vie pour le salut 
ae son troupeau."— i&., p. 4. 

5 " Quasi sans coup ferir."— !&., p. 10. 



92 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

All the inhabitants were massacred, or reserved for cruelties 
more terrible than death, save three fugitives, who fled, half- 
naked, across the snow to the neighbouring town of St. Louis, 
about three miles off. Most of the inhabitants of St. Louis 
had time to escape before the attack of the Iroquois, but about 
eighty Huron warriors made a stand for the defence of their 
homes. With them remained the two Jesuit missionaries, Jean .= 
de Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, who, scorning to fly, chose 
the point of danger among their flock, standing in the breach, 
the one baptizing the catechumens, the other absolving the 
neophytes.* The town was speedily taken and burned. The 
Jesuits, however, were not immediately killed, "being re- 
served for a more glorious crown, "f but were, with the other 
captives, driven before their exulting conquerors back to St. 
Ignace. 

Now began a scene of fiendish torture. The missionaries, 
stripped naked, were compelled to run the gauntlet through a 
savage mob, frenzied with cruelty, drunk with blood. They 
received a perfect storm of blows on every part of the body. 
" Children," said Brebeuf to his fellow captives, " let us look to 
God. Let us remember that He is the witness of our suffer- 
ings, that He will be our exceeding great reward. I feel for 
you more than for myself. But endure with courage the little 
that remains of these torments. They will end with our lives, 
but the glory that follows shall continue forever." 

The L'oquois, maddened to fury, tore off the nails of their 
victims, pierced their hands, lacerated their flesh. Brebeuf, of 
brawny frame, and iron thews, and dauntless bearing — the Ajax 
of the Huron Mission — was the especial object of their rage. 
On him they wreaked their most exquisite tortures. They cut 
off his lips, they seared his throat and bleeding gums, they 
hung a collar of red-hot hatchets around his neck. But he 
stood like a rock, unflinching to the last, without a murmur or 
a groan, his soul even then reposing on God, an object of 

* "L'un ^stoit a la "brfeche baptisant les cateclinmenes, I'atitre dormant I'abso- 
lution aiix n^oxiliytes." — Eagueueau, Belation des Hurons, 1649, p. 11. 
t " Dieu les r^seruoit a des couronues bien plus grandes." — It, 



THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 93 

amazement to even savage stoicism.* The gentle and delicate 
Lalemant they enveloped in bark saturated with pitch, which 
they fired, seaming his body with livid scars. As the stifling 
wreaths of smoke arose, he cried, " We are made a spectacle to 
the world, to angels, and to men." They then tore out his eyes, 
and seared the sockets with burning coals. In derision of the 
rite of baptism, which the missionaries had so often adminis- 
tered to others, their savage tormentors poured boiling water 
on their heads. 

The dying martyrs freely pardoned their foes, praying God 
to lay not these things to their charge. After nameless tor- 
tm'es, the human hyenas scalped Brebeuf while yet alive, hacked 
off his feet, tore out his quivering heart, and drank his blood. 
Lalemant endured his sufferings for seventeen hours, and died 
by the welcome stroke of a tomahawk. Brdbeuf's stronger 
frame succumbed to his more deadly wounds in less than four 
hours. 

The skull and other relics of Brebeuf are preserved at the 
Hotel Dieu at Quebec, and are said to have wrought miracles 
of healing, as well as the conversion of most obstinate heretics ; 
but a more potent spell is that of his lofty spirit, his noble life, 
and his heroic death. 

The night which followed this deed of blood was a night of 
terror at Ste. Marie, situated only six miles distant from St. 
Ignace. All day long the smoke of the burning village of St. 
Louis was visible, and Iroquois scouts prowled, wolf-like, near 
the mission walls. All that night and the night following, the 
little garrison of forty Frenchmen stood at arms. In the chapel, 
vows and prayers, without ceasing, were offered up. The 
Hurons rallied, and attacked the Iroquois in furious battle. 
But their valour was unavailing ; they were, almost to a man, 
cut off. The Iroquois in turn, panic-stricken, fled in haste, 
but not without a last act of damning cruelty. Tying to the 
stake at St. Ignace, the prisoners whom they had not time to 

* " Souffroit comme tin rocher. Sans pousser aucun cry, estonnoit ses bour- 
reaux mesmes ; sans cloute que sou cceur reposoit alors en son Dieu." — Eague- 
neau, Relation des Hurons, 1649, ^. 14. 



94 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

torture, they fired the town, retreating to the music, delightful 
to the savage ear, of the shrieks of human agony of mothers 
and their children, husbands and their wives, old age and in- 
fancy, writhing in the fierce flames' torturing embrace . * The site 
of the hapless town may still be traced in the blackened embers, 
preserved beneath the forest growth of over two centuries. 

The mission was wrecked. The Hurons were scattered. 
Their towns were abandoned, burnt, or destroyed, and them- 
selves fugitives from a wrathful foe. " We are counted as sheep 
for the slaughter," writes the pious Eagueneau. The Fathers 
resolved to transfer the missions to the Grand Manitoulin, 
where they might gather again their scattered flock, free from 
the attacks of their enemies. They unhappily changed their 
destination to Isle St. Joseph, now known as Christian Island 
(probably from tradition of its Jesuit occupation), situated 
about twenty miles from Ste. Marie, and two or three miles 
from the mainland. They set fire to the mission buildings, 
and, with sinking hearts, saw in an hour the labours of ten 
years destroyed. On a rude raft, near sunset, on the 14th 
of June, they embarked, about forty whites in all, with 
all their household goods and treasures, and, after several days, 
reached Isle St. Joseph. They built a new mission-fortress, 
the remains of which may still be seen. Here, by winter, were 
assembled six or eight thousand wretched Hurons, dependent 
upon the charity of the mission. The Fathers had collected 
five or six hundred bushels of acorns, which were served out to 
the perishing Indians, and boiled with ashes to take away their 
bitter taste. But the good priests found compensation in the 
thought that man shall not live by bread alone ; and they sought 
unweariedly to break unto the multitude the bread of life. lu 
their extremity the famishing creatures were fain to eat the 
carrion remains of dogs and foxes, and, more horrible still, 
even the bodies of the dead. 

* " Prenans plaisir h leur depart, de so repaistre des oris espouuantables que 
poussoient ces pauvres victimes au milieu de ces flammes, ou des enfans gril- 
loient h cost^s de leurs mferes, ou uu. mary voyoit sa femme rostir aupr^a de 
Boy." — Eagueneau, Eelation des Hurons, 1649, p. 13.' 



THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 95 

Before spring, harassed by attacks of the Iroquois and 
wasted by pestilence, half "of the number had died. -»Day by 
day the faithful missionaries visited the sick, exhorted the liv- 
ing, absolved the dying, and celebrated the sacraments in the 
crowded chapel, which was daily filled ten or twelve times. 
Night by night, in frost and snow and bitter storm, through the 
livelong hours the sentry paced his weary round. 

During the winter the Iroquois ravaged the mainland, burn- 
ing villages and slaughtering the inhabitants. St. Jean, a town 
of some six hundred families, which had hitherto resisted 
attack amid the fastnesses of the Blue Mountains, not far from 
the present town of Collingwood, was taken and destroyed. 
Here Pere Garnier, the scion of a noble family of Paris, shared 
the heroic fate of Daniel, the first martyr of the mission. He 
was slain in the act of absolving a dying Indian. 

With the opening spring, the pinchings of hunger drove the 
starving Hurons from Isle St. Joseph to the mainland. The 
relentless Iroquois were awaiting them. Of the large party 
who crossed, but one man escaped to tell the tale of blood. 
The whole country was a land of horror, a place of. massacre.* 
There was nothing but despair on every side. More than ten 
thousand Hurons had already perished. Famine, or an enemy 
more cruel still, everywhere confronted them. They resolved 
to forsake their country, and to fly to some distant region, in 
order to escape extermination by their foes. Many of them 
besought the Jesuits to lead them to an asylum beneath the 
guns of Quebec, where they might worship God in peace. 
The Fathers consulted much together, but more with God,f 
and engaged in prayer- for forty consecutive hours. They 
resolved to abandon the mission. Dread of the Iroquois has- 
tened their retreat. 

" It was not without tears," writes Eagueneau, '' that we left 
the country of our hearts and hopes, which, already red with 
the blood of our brethren, promised us a like happiness, opened 

* "N'estoit plus qii'nne terre d' liorreur, et un lieu de massacre." — Eague- 
neau, Relation des Hurons, 1650, j). 22. 
t " Nous cousultioua ensemble, mais plus encore avec Dieu." — H). 



96 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

for us the gate of heaven."* The pious toils of fifteen years 
seemed -frustrated, but, with devout submission, the Father 
Superior writes, "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." 
They were accompanied in their retreat, by way of French 
River, Lake Nipissing, and the Ottawa, by three hundred 
Christian Hurons, the sad relics of a nation once so populous. f 
Along the shores where had recently dwelt eight or ten thou- 
sand of their countrymen not one remained.^ The little band 
of fugitives sought refuge on the Island of Orleans, near 
Quebec. But even here they were pursued by the undying 
hate of the Iroqfuois, who again and again attacked the mission 
beneath the very guns of the fort. The remaining Hurons 
were dispersed in scattered groups far over the bleak northern 
wastes from the Saguenay to the Mississippi, and eventually dis- 
appeared as a distinct race. One band sought the aid of the 
powerful Ojibways, and confronted their merciless foe on the 
shores of Lake Superior, where a great battle was fought on 
the spot still known as Iroquois Point, otherwise " the place of 
Iroquois bones." A few families, the remnant of the once 
powerful Huron nation, still linger at Lorette, near Quebec. 

After these sanguinary triumphs, the incursions of the Iro- 
quois on the St. Lawrence settlements increased in frequency 
and audacity. From 1650 to 1660, a perfect reign of terror 
prevailed. Not a year, and scarce a month, passed without an 
attack. The Iroquois swarmed in the forests and on the rivers. 
They lay in wait, at times for weeks, near the forts, thirsting 
for French or Huron blood. They entered the settlements, 
and killed and scalped the inhabitants on their own thresholds. 
Every man carried his life in his hand. The peasants could 
not work in the fields unless strongly armed and in a numerous 
body. The inhabitants of the frontier settlements were fre- 
quently obliged to take yefuge in strong block-houses, like that 
shown in the engraving. Yille Marie lost in one month by 
these incursions over one hundred men, two-thirds of whom 

* Belations, 1650, p. 26. 

t " Tristes reliques d'une nation, autrefois si peupl^e." — Ih. 

t " n. n'en restoit pas mesme un seul." — lb. 



THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 



97 



were French, the rest Algonquins. Mademoiselle Mance and 
the nuns of the Hotel Dieu found abundant employment in 








FRONTIER BLOCK-HOUSE, BUILT ABOUT 1645. 

nursmg the wounded defenders of the mission. These ladies, 
well born and delicately nurtured, espoused poverty and toil 
and suffering for the glory of God and the spiritual welfare of 
the thankless savages. So bleak was their chamber that their 
coarse bread froze on the table before them, and the snow, 
after a storm, was removed from the floor by shovelfuls. The 
savages were known to crouch in the garden all night for a 
chance to tomahawk the "white girls," as they came forth in 
the morning to attend to their pigs and fowls. When an alarm 
of attack was given, one would climb the belfry to ring the 
tocsin, calling together the defenders of the mission. Others 
knelt before the altar in prayer, or hid in their cells, expecting 
that their last hour had come. 

Le Maitre, a Sulpitian priest, went out with the labourers to 
watch for the enemy while they worked in the fields. Seeing 
no danger, he took out his breviary to read the prayers for the 
day. Absorbed in his pious office, he walked into an ambus- 
cade of Iroquois. Scorning to fly, he shouted the alarm to the 
13 



98 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

labourers, and, to give them time to escape, himself alone con- 
fronted the savage cr6w. The wretches hacked off his head, 
and carried it as a trophy to their distant villages. Vignal, a 
fellow-priest, two months later, with thirteen men, went to 
bring stone from the Isle a la Pierre, nearly opposite Montreal, 
for the convent they were building at the mission. As they 
landed, they were surprised by Iroquois. The priest was killed 
and cooked and eaten in the presence of his companions, who 
were drao:<2:ed off to death or torture in the Mohawk towns. 

Tlie Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, and Oneidas, having 
engaged in war with the Eries, a tribe situated on the borders 
of the lake whose name they bore, sought the alliance of the 
French, and demanded the planting of a mission within their 
borders. To grant or to refuse their request was almost 
equally perilous. The Governor held a council on the subject. 
The Jesuits, full of zeal, gave their voice for the establishment of 
1656. the mission. " The blood of the martyrs is the seed of 
the Church," exclaimed one of them, " and, if we die by the 
fires of the Iroquois, we shall have won eternal life by snatching 
souls from the fires of hell." They, therefore, decided to plant 
a mission among the Onondagas, in the heart of the Iroquois 
country, with the threefold object of curbing their hostile dis- 
position, of winning new converts to the Cross, and of securing 
the fur trade from the growing interference of the Dutch. In 
a temporary lull of hostilities, Pere Le Moyue and three other 
]3riests were selected to tread the pathway already reddened by 
the blood of Jogues, the previous envoy. They were accom- 
panied by ten soldiers and forty settlers. The Mohawks, jeal- 
ous of the increased influence with the French which the 
mission would give the other tribes of the confederacy, tried 
to intercept the party, failing in which they ravaged the banks 
of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence, and prowled around the very 
walls of Montreal and Quebec. From the Island of Orleans 
they carried off eighty Hurons, who were under the protection 
of the French, and, in contempt of the latter, made their 
prisoners dance and sing as they paddled their bark canoes 
beneath the very guns of the Castle of St. Louis. 



^ TEE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 99 

The Onondaga Mission was planted on the shores of the 
beautiful lake from which it took its name. Amid salvos of 
their miniature cannon, the chanting of the Te Deum, and the 
celebration of the mass, the Jesuits, full of faith, took posses- 
sion of the country, in which they held their lives on the suf- 
ferance of treacherous savages. They prosecuted with zeal 
their evangelistic work ; preaching, exhorting, and catechising 
and baptizing the children, or professed converts, throughout 
the Iroquois towns. Forest sanctuaries were erected, 1657. 
the sweet sounds of the Angelus rang from their tiny belfries, 
the images of Christ and His Virgin Mother were displayed on 
the rustic altars to crowds of wondering spectators. With a 
profound dissimulation, the savages were contemplating, all the 
while, the massacre' of the entire mission, and an overwhelming 
invasion of Canada by the whole of the confederate tribes. 
The Jesuits were warned of their danger by the dying confes- 
sion of a converted Iroquois. They hastily called in the 
priests from the outlying missions, and held an anxious council 
in their mission-house by the lake, where the whole colony, 
fifty-three in number, were assembled. On every side were 
encamped their watchful and truculent enemy, on the alert both 
day and night. Escape seemed impossible. But the Jesuits, 
with a dissimulation even deeper than that of their wily foe, 
but which, under the circumstances, the sternest moralist could 
scarce condemn, devised a plan to outwit the wretches who 
were thirsting for their blood. 

First, two light batteaux were secretly constructed in the 
loft of the mission-house, for the transport of the entire party 
on the neighbouring la,ke and river. Then the Indians i658. 
were invited to one of the glutton feasts at which, under the 
influence of a disgusting superstition, they devour everything 
placed before them unless absolved from that duty by their 
hosts. The Fathers killed their hogs, and prepared a banquet 
of unusual piquancy. Amid the shouting and din of the feast, 
the batteaux were conveyed by stealth to the lake-side. When 
the Indians, gorged to repletion, had fallen into a heavy sleep, 

or semi-torpor, their hosts silently and swiftly withdrew, — 

L. of C. 



100 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

priests, soldiers, and settlers, abandoning everything, — -and be-' 
fore morning were far down the Oswego Eiver, on their way to 
Lake Ontario. When the baffled Iroquois awoke from their 
torjoor, the strange silence of the mission surprised them. A 
light March snow that had fallen, covered the traces of the 
escape of their intended victims. They concluded that the 
black-robed sorcerers must have flown off through the air. 
Pursuit was in vain, and the fugitives, gliding down the St. 
Lawrence, with the loss of three men in the rapids, in due 
course reached Montreal and Quebec. 

In 1660, the confederate Iroquois menaced with a fatal blow* 
the very existence of the colony. Twelve hundred plumed 
and painted warriors were on the way to attack successively 
the three military posts of Montreal, Three Rivers, and Quebec. 
Behind their loop-holed palisades, the trembling inhabitants 
gathered, their hearts failing them for fear. The colony was 
saved from extermination by an act of valour and devotion, as 
heroic as any recorded on the page of history. Dulac des 
Ormeaux, a youth of twenty-two, with sixteen others, youth- 
ful like himself, — all of Montreal,— resolved to save their 
country, though they perished in the act. They made their 
wills, confessed, received the sacrament, and bade a solemn 
farewell to their friends, like men about to march to death. 
And so they were. Not one returned alive. Stemming the 
swift current of Ste. Anne, they crossed the Lake of Two Moun- 
tains, and took their stand at the Long Sault rapid, near Caril- 
lon, on the Ottawa. Here they were joined by forty Christian 
Hurons and four Algonquins. They took possession of an old 
redoubt, a mere breastwork of logs, and awaited the approach 
of the Iroquois. A force of two hundred soon appeared. The 
French and their red allies strengthened their scanty defence 
with sod and earth, leaving twenty loop-holes through which to 
fire, and prepared for a death-struggle with their foe. For five 
long days and nights the Iroquois swarmed around that frail 
redoubt, repulsed again and again by its brave defenders, who, 
though worn by hunger, thirst, and want of sleep, fought, and 
prayed, and watched by turns. Iroquois re-enforcements now 



THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 101 

arrived. The Hurons, dismayed at the inevitable result of the 
unequal contest, deserted to the enemy. 

For three days longer seven hundred ferocious savages be- 
leaguered the crumbling redoubt, defied by the score of brave 
men who, reeling with weariness, kept their lone post with the 
courage of despair. The Iroquois, having made huge wooden 
shields, rushed at the palisades, and, crouching below the fire 
of the loop-holes, hacked furidusly at the posts to cut their way 
through. They fired through the loop-holes on their penned up 
victims, tore open a breach in the walls, and swarmed within 
the redoubt. The French fought with desperation, selling their 
lives as dearly as possible. Four men alone were found alive. 
Three of these were mortally wounded, and were burned upon 
the spot. The other was reserved to glut the rage of his cap- 
tors with future torture. The renegade Hurons paid the pen- 
alty of their treachery by their death, except five, who escaped 
to tell the tale of horror. But these brave men died not in 
vain. The colony was saved. The baffled Iroquois retired to 
their forests to nurse their wrath for a future day of slaughter. 
The pass of the Long Sault was the Thermopylae of Canada. 

We return to trace briefly the political administration of New 
France during this period. In 1645, the company of the Hun- 
dred Associates had surrendered to the people of the colony 
the monopoly of the fur trade, but retaining its seigneurial 
rights, on certain conditions ; viz., the colonists were to assume 
the debts and responsibilities of the Company ; to man, equip, 
and maintain the forts and other means of defence ; to defray 
the costs of civil government, as the salary of the Governor 
and other officials ; and to pay the Company the annual equiva- 
lent of a thousand pounds of beaver-skins. 

In 1647, in consequence of the centralizing policy of the 
young sovereign, restricting the term of service of colonial 
Governors to three years, Mout-magny was re-called, although 
ho had administered the affairs of the colony with distinguished 
ability, and M. D'Ailleboust wag appointed his successor. The 
new Governor had already been five years commandant at 
Three Elvers, and understood the wants of the country, al- 



102 HISTORY OF CANADA. ' 

though deficient in the energy that characterized his two 
predecessors. 

The Governor was assisted in his ofBcial duties by a council, 
in which the Superior of the Jesuits and the Governor of Mon- 
treal were associated with himself. This council was invested 
with supreme authority, judicial, executive, and legislative. 
During D'Ailleboust's administration, an envoy arrived from 
New England with the proposal of a treaty of commerce and 
amity between the British, French, and Dutch colonies, and 
especially providing for their neutrality in all quarrels of the 
mother countries. The French eagerly accepted the sugges- 
tion, and dispatched Father Druilletes to arrange the terms of 
the treaty. The Jesuit, crossing with infinite toil the broken 
country between the St. Lawrence and the headwaters of the 
Kennebec, sailed down that river to the sea, and reaching Bos- 
ton by an English vessel, became the guest of the Massachusetts 
Colony where, by law, his life was under ban. In Eliot, the 
apostle of the New England Indians, he found a kindred spirit ; 
their common missionary zeal reconciling, for the time, their 
antagonistic creeds. 

The French urged, through their envoy, a mutual alliance 
against the Iroquois ; but as these were the friends of the Eng- 
lish, this stipulation unhappily frustrated the project, and em- 
bittered the hostility of the Iroquois, who, supplied in increas- 
ing quantities with fire-arms from Fort Orange, continued to 
wreak their rage upon the French. 

In 1651, M. De Lauson, a leading member of the Hundred 
Associates, succeeded to the government of the distracted 
country. His timid and vacillating administration encouraged 
the audacity of the Iroquois, and, as we have seen, reduced the 
colony to the verge of destruction. In 1658, he quitted his 
post in disgust, and was succeeded by the Viscount D'Argenson. 

The following year, the Abbe Laval, a member of the 
1659. princely house of Montmorency, who afterwards (in 
1670) became the first bishop of the colony, arrived in Canada 
as Vicar Apostolic. He was a man of intense zeal and devo- 
tion to the welfare of his Church. For thirty years he swayed 



THE WILDERNESS MISSIONS. 103 

the religious destiny of the colony. His memory is greatly 
revered by his countrymen, and the noble collegiate pile which 
crowns the heights of Quebec perpetuates his name. Laval 
had been the nominee of the Jesuit party, and zealously joro- 
moted the interests of that Order. He was soon involved in a 
conflict with the Abbe Queylus, Yicar-General of Canada, and 
head of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Moi^treal, which led to 
the expulsion of the latter from Canada. Acrimonious disputes 
soon arose, also, between the bishop and successive Governors, 
on matters of precedence, and other expressions of ecclesias- 
tical dignity. 

His controversy with the bishop, the virtual independence of 
Montreal, its jealousy of Quebec, and the insubordination of 
Maisonneuve, its Governor, so disgusted D'Argenson that he 
gladly accepted his recall. 

He was succeeded by the Baron D'Avaugour, a brave soldier, 
who had served with distinction in Hungary, but who was leoi. 
a man of a hasty and obstinate disposition. Resolved on ener- 
getic measures of colonial defence, he asked for three thousand 
regular troops. The king tardily sent out four hundred, and 
meanwhile the country was laid waste, and the military posts 
Were practically in a state of siege. The bluff soldier and the 
aggressive bishop were involved in a continual discord. 

On one subject of controversy the latter was unquestionably 
in the right. The white man's ' ' fire-water " had a fatal fascina- 
tion for the red man's unrestrained appetite. The bishop and 
the Jesuit missionaries fought earnestly against the liquor 
traffic. It was denounced from the pulpit as hurtful to body 
and soul, and its agents threatened with excommunication, and, 
indeed, with death. Two men were shot for selling brandy to 
the Indians, and a woman was imprisoned for the same crime. 
A Jesuit missionary, interceding strongly for her pardon, 
D'Avaugour, probably opposed to this extreme severity, de- 
clared that if she went unpunished no one else should suffer for 
the like offence, and to this decision he obstinately adhered. A 
period of general license now ensued. An indulgence in 
liquor, restrained only by the ability to procure it, led to a 



104 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

frightful demoralization of the mission, and inaugurated an era 
of vice and crime, both among the Indians and the French. 
Laval, unable to restrain the flood of evil, sailed to France to 
appeal to the power of the sovereign, and demand the recall of 
the obstinate Governor. 

Now ensued signs and wonders in the sky and on the earth, 
which were regarded as the menace of Divine wrath. ' ' Blazing 
serpents," writes .one of the Jesuit Fathers, " flew through the 
air, borne on wings of fire." A great globe of flame was seen, at 
Montreal, to issue from the moon, with a noise as loud as 
thunder, and to disappear behind the shaggy crest of the 
mountain, — probably a meteorite of unusual size. 

But these were but the prelude to a more awful visitation. 
On the 5th of February, 1663, the whole country was shaken by 
a terrible earthquake. • Dense darkness filled the air, the thick- 
ribbed ice on the rivers was broken, springs were dried up, the 
church bells pealed with the rocking motion, buildings tottered, 
the forest trembled, and portentous noises were heard. Shocks 
were repeated at intervals from February to August. The ut- 
most consternation prevailed, but happily no loss of life oc- 
curred. The end of the world was thought to be at hand, and 
a great reformation in morals, we are assured, took place. 

In this year, the obnoxious Governor, DAvaugour, was re- 
called, and soon ^fter died, fighting bravely against the Turks 
in Croatia. This date closes the administration of the Hundred 
Associates, which had been characterized by greed, weakness, 
and inefficiency on the part of the Company; by cruel and 
bloody invasion, wasting, and massacre by the Iroquois ; by 
the enthusiastic zeal, devotion, and heroic martyrdom of the 
Jesuit missionaries ; and by the unparalleled sufferings of the 
colonists. 



ACADIA. 105 



CHAPTER Vm. 

ACADIA. 

La Tour and D'Aulnay, Lieutenants under EazilM — Their Feuds— La Tour and 
Wife Besieged at St. John — Tliey Seek Aid from Boston — Madame La 
Tour's Heroic Defence of St. John — Its Capture, 1667 — Perfidy of D'Aulnay 
— His Death — La Tour Marries his Widow — Le Borgne — Ee-con quest of 
Acadia hy the English, 1654 — It is Eestored to the French, 1667. 

WE now return to trace briefly the history of Acadia, or 
Nova Scotia, as it now began to be called — a history 
full of romantic interest. By the treaty of St. Germain-en- 
Laye, Acadia was restored to the French Crown, and the less. 
country was portioned out into provinces, under proprietary 
Governors, whose chief revenue was derived from the fur trade 
and fisheries. Eazille, the commandant-in-chief, received a grant 
of the southern portion ©f the peninsula, and the region contig- 
uous to the river and bay of St. Croix. Struck with the beauty 
and commodious harbour of La Heve, on the southeast coast, 
he there fixed his residence, built a fort, and planted a consid- 
erable settlement. Under him, as lieutenants, were Charles la 
Tour, to whom was assigned the rest of the peninsula, as far as 
Canseau ; and the Seigneur D'Aulnay Charuisy, who controlled 
the country north and east of the Bay of Fundy, to Gaspe, 
and the Kennebec River. 

On the death of Razille, Nicolas Denys, Sieur de Fronsac, 
who had previously been associated with him in trade, suc- 
ceeded him as commandant. Bitter strife now arose between 
•the lieutenants, D'Aulnay and La Tour, rendered the more in- 
tense by their trading jealousies, and by the disputed limits of 
their several domains. Though neither could occupy a tenth 
of his owTi territory, each seemed in mortal dread of the en- 
croachments of the other. This jealousy was increased by the 
fact that each held possession of certain trading-posts within 
the country, under the nominal jurisdiction of the other. 

14 



106 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

D'Aulnay, an unscrupulous and ambitious man, attempted to 
assume control over the entire country. La Tour's Huguenot 
antecedents, and his commercial relations with Rochelle, the 
stronghold of French Protestantism, were calculated to preju- 
dice his interests at the French court. D'Aulnay, therefore, 
managed, through the powerful influence of his patron, Eiche- 
lieu, to procure an order for the arrest of La Tour, and for his 
return to France to answer certain charges of malversation 
alleged against him. The King revoked the commission of La 
Tour, and fixed, as a limit between the rival jurisdictions, the 
Bay of Fundy, and the line joining the head of the bay and 
Cape Canseau, • La Tour, denying the allegations of D'Aulnay, 
refused to submit to arrest, and fortified himself at his tradino;- 
post at St. John. * 

After the manner of a mediaeval feudal potentate, D'Aulnay 
raised a force of five hundred men, and, in the spring of 1643, 
appeared ofi" the mouth of the St. John River, and closely 
blockaded La Tour in his fort. The position of the latter was 
one of great peril. A ship was daily expected from Rochelle 
with supplies for the fort, together with a company of a hun- 
dred and forty immigrants. These were in danger of falling 
into the hands of the blockading fleet. The expected vessel, 
however, received intimation of the danger, and under cover of 
night La Tour and his intrepid wife were conveyed on board. 
They sailed for Boston to seek the aid of the Colony of Massa- 
chusetts in defence of their rights. A council was held at 
Boston, and, after the manner of the Puritans, recourse was 
had to the Bible for direction. Two very apposite passages 
were adduced in opposition to intermeddling in foreign strife. | 
Governor Winthrop, therefore, though not ill pleased to see 
the French weakening each other in Acadia by their intestine 
strife, did not venture to commit any overt act that would 
violate the peace then existing between France and Great 
Britain. He permitted La Tour, however, to raise and equip 

* We use this name by anticipation, for the purpose of giving a local defini- 
tion to the events'here described, 
t 2;Chron. six., 2, and Prov. xxvi., 17. 



ACADIA. 107 

a small naval and military force. The latter, therefore, char- 
tered five vessels, mounting some forty pieces of cannon of 
small size, and procured the services of eighty volunteers for 
land service, and fifty sailors. This force, though still less 
than that of D'Aulnay, was handled with such skill that the 
latter at once raised the blockade and sought refuge under the 
guns of his own fort at Port Eoyal. Here two of his vessels 
were wrecked, and La Tour, who followed in hot pursuit, 
would probably have reduced the fort, but that the New Eng- 
land volunteers, who had only engaged to serve for sixty days, 
after a short conflict, in which each party lost three men, re- 
turned, before their period of service had expired, to Boston. 
D'Aulnay, intensely chagrined, protested against the violation 
of neutrality by the New Englanders, and sent an agent to 
Boston, bearing his commission from the King, and a copy of 
the warrant for the arrest of La Tour. A treaty of peace 
was therefore agreed upon between D'Aulnay, representing the 
King of France, and the New England colonies, 1644. 

Madame La Tour, a woman of heroic mould, was meantime 
urging the fortunes of her husband, and obtaining supplies for 
his fort, in England. On the return voyage, the captain of 
the vessel, instead of conveying her, as agreed, to St. John, 
after trading for some time in the St. Lawrence, landed her at 
Boston. The indomitable lady, who had narrowly escaped 
capture by D'Aulnay, brought a civil action against the captain 
of the vessel for violation of his charter, and recovered a ver- 
dict of £2,000. Expending this sum in supplies and muni- 
tions, she sailed for the St. John, and placed the fort in a con- 
dition for vigourous defence. Learning the temporary absence 
of La Tour, D'Aulnay promptly laid siege to the fort. The 
intrepid lady, however, offered a most effective resistance. 
The cannon were so well served that D'Aulnay's frigate soon 
became unmanageable, and twenty of the attacking party were 
killed and thirteen wounded, and the baffled commander was 
obliged to desist from his attempt to reduce the fort. La Tour, 
in the meanwhile, continued to receive stores and munitions of 
war from New England, notwithstanding the treaty of neutral- 



108 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

ity. In reprisal, D'Aulnay seized and confiscated a Boston 
vessel. This had the effect of cutting off La Tour's source of 
supplies, and leaving him comparatively at the mercy of his 
powerful enemy. 

The crisis of this prolonged conflict was approaching. In 
the spring of 1647, the unchivalric D'Aulnay, learning that 
La Tour, with most of his men, was engaged at a distance 
in procuring supplies, again attacked the fort at St. John. La 
Tour's heroic wife, an Acadian Jean d'Arc, determined to hold 
out to the last extremity. For three days the assailants were 
effectively repulsed. On the fourth, which was Easter Sunday, 
through the treachery of a mutinous Swiss sentry, the enemy 
gained entrance to the outer works. The gallant lady rushed 
to the ramparts at the head of her little handful of soldiers. 
D'Aulnay, taught by experience her indomitable energy, and 
fearing the disgrace of a second defeat at the hands of a 
woman, offered terms of capitulation. Anxious to save the 
lives of the brave men who had defended the fort against a 
much superior force, Madame La Tour accepted the offered 
terms. When D'Aulnay beheld the weakness of the little 
garrison, he treacherously broke his plighted word. Every 
man of them was condemned to be hanged save one, who had 
the baseness to become the executioner of his comrades. As a 
crowning atrocity, the titled ruffian compelled the twice be- 
trayed lady to witness the cruel spectacle, as an additional in- 
dignity wearing a halter around her neck. The fort was pil- 
laged of all its stores, furs, and merchandise, to the value of 
fifty thousand dollars, and D'Aulnay retreated to Port Royal 
with his ill-gotten booty. La Tour was a ruined" man, a wander- 
ing exile on the bleak shores of Newfoundland, or on the sterile 
wastes around Hudson's Bay. The disasters of her husband 
broke the wife's heart, and soon after the brave soul passed 
away. 

D'Aulnay for a time kept feudal state in his fortress at Port 
Eoyal, as the supreme authority in all Acadia. In four years 
he died, deeply involved in debt and disgrace. His rival now 
came back from the wilderness, vindicated his character to his 



ACADIA. 



109 



sovereign, was confirmed in his office as Lieutenant-Governor 
of Acadia, and received again his fort at St. John. As lesi. 
the acme of his extraordinary fortunes, he married the widow 
of his rival, and inherited his estate. That estate, however, was 
much encumbered. Its chief creditor, Le Borgne, a merchant 
of Rochelle, obtained permission to take possession of Acadia 
as security for the satisfaction of his claims. He accordingly 
attacked M. Denys, who had acquired great wealth by the fur 
trade and fishing, at Cape Breton, and sent him a prisoner to 
Port Royal, which place he had seized. He also burned La 
Heve, and prepared for the capture of La Tour's fort at St. John. 
A new power now appeared in the field. Oliver Cromwell, 
the stout-hearted Protector of England, was at this time 1654. 
at war with the Dutch, and sent a force 
for the capture of Manhattan settlement 
at the mouth of the Hudson. Peace, 
however, was concluded before that pur- 
pose was efiected. The re-conquest of 
Acadia was then determined. The res- 
toration of that country to the French 
had always been displeasing to the New 
England colonists, as it would lay their 
commerce open to the depredations of 
CROMWELL. French privateers in time of war. A 

secret expedition was therefore organized under Colonel Sedg- 
wick for the reduction of the French forts. Those of the 
Penobscot and St. John speedily surrendered. Le Borgne 
was strongly posted at Port Eoyal with a force of one hundred 
and fifty men. After a pusillanimous defence he yielded at 
discretion. La Heve was also shortly reduced, and Acadia 
was once more in the possession of the English. La Tour 
now claimed extensive territorial rights by virtue of Sir Wil- 
liam Alexander's grant to his father, which had so long lain 
dormant. That claim was recognized, and he was confirmed 
in his so called rights. These he soon sold to Sir less. 
Thomas Temple, and shortly after ended his checkered career 
in obscurity at St. John. 




110 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The English now held the country jomtly with the French 
for eleven years. Sir Thomas Temple governed the English 
portion in the name of King Charles 11. , and expended 
£16,000 in repairing the forts under his control, deriving, also, 
large revenues from the fur trade ; while Le Borgne represented 
the authority of Louis XIV. 

The whole of Acadia was ceded to the French by the Treaty of 
Breda, in 1667, they claiming, under that name, not only the 
peninsula, but also the extensive region from the Kennebec 
River to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Sir Thomas Temple de- 
clined to admit this claim, and asserted that Acadia comprised 
only part of the peninsula, not including the forts on which he 
had expended so much money. The king, however, denied 
this distinction as frivolous, and ordered the surrender of the 
forts, promising indemnity to Sir Thomas Temple for the ex- 
pense he had incurred. The transfer accordingly took place, 
1670, but the king's promise, like many another that he made, 
was never fulfilled. 



ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 



Ill 



CHAPTER IX. 



KOYAL GOVERNMENT. 

Constitution of tlie Supreme Council — De Mezy, Governor, 1663 — Civic Dis- 
putes — Tlie Great Company of the West — De Tracy, Viceroy — Talon, In- 
tendant — De Courcelles, Governor — Mid-winter Attacks on the Iroquois, 
1666 — De Tracy Conquers the Mohawks — Eighteen Years' Truce — Talon's 
Wise Administration — Internal Development — Seigneurial Tenure of Land 
— The Fur Trade — The Small-Pox and Liquor Traffic Waste the Native 
Tribes — Jesuit Explorations — Ths Mission of Sault Ste. Marie — The 
French on Hudson's Bay — In Newfoundland. 

THE influence of the Abbe Laval, the newly appointed 
Vicar Apostolic, with the king and ministry of Erance, 

procured an entire 
change in the relations 
of the colony to the 
mother country. The 
charter of the Hundred 
Associates was rescind- 
ed by a royal edict, 
February, 1663, and 
the government of New 
France became vested 
directly in the Crown. 
The failure of the Com- 
pany, now reduced to 
half its original num- 
ber, to meet its engage- 
ments, and the depress- 
^J ed condition of the col- 
ony, were an ample 
vindication of this step. 
Jean Baptiste Colbert, 
the new minister of 
CQLBEB3i Louis XIV., a man of 




112 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

comprehensive views, and of great energy and integrity of 
character, continued for a score of years to be the tried and 
true friend of Canada. He endeavoured to restrain the corrup- 
tion and extravagance at home, in order that aid might be given 
for the development of the colony, but with only very partial 
success. 

As Cardinal Mazarin lay upon his death-bed, he said to his 
royal master, Louis XIV. : " Sire, I am indebted to you for 
all that I possess ; but I think I am requiting all your majesty's 
favours by giving you Colbert." The great minister raised 
France to the zenith of her fame. In a few years he increased 
her navy fourfold. He was the generous patron of literature, 
science, and art. By wise legislation he extended the com- 
merce and developed the resources of the country. He opposed 
the war policy of Louis XIV., by which the resources of 
the kingdom were wasted. But the royal ambition frustrated 
his wise counsels, and plunged France into disastrous wars. 
' ' Would that I had served my God as faithfully as I have 
served my king ! " * bitterly exclaimed the fallen minister upon 
his death-bed. To protect his funeral against the attacks of 
the mob, it took place at night, guarded by a military escort. 
Such is the proverbial ingratitude of nations to their most 
faithful servants. 

Laval had procured the appointment of M. de Mezy, com- 
mandant of Caen, as Governor of Canada, on account of his an- 
ticipated subserviency to himself. A royal commissioner, M. 
Gaudais Dupont, was also sent out to inquire into the state of 
the colony, and to report to the home ministry. The new gov- 
ernment was administered by a Supreme Council, composed of 
the Governor, the Bishop, f and the royal Intendant, assisted by 
four councillors, — a number afterwards raised to twelve, — 
who held office for one year, and were jointly appointed by 
the Governor and Bishop. The Bishop had jurisdiction over 

* Compare the similar exclamation of Cardinal Wolsey in Shakespeare's 
Henry VIII., Act III., Scene ii. 

t We use this title for convenience, although Laval did not receive it till 
1670. 



ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 113 

ecclesiastical affairs, and had much influence in the civil admin- 
istration. The Governor was the military representative of the 
king, and was generally of noble rank. The Intendant was the 
king's representative in legal matters, and was generally a 
member of the legal profession. He controlled all expenditure 
of public money, and his ordinances had all the force of law. 
These ordinances were generally proclaimed at the church door, 
or from tho pulpit, and, besides dealing with more important 
subjects, descended to such minor matters as pew-rents, stray 
hogs, mad dogs, fast driving, matrimonial quarrels, fairs and 
markets, weights and measures, and all the complex details of 
colonial life. 

The respective duties and authority of the Governor and In- 
tendant were not clearly defined, and from their peculiar rela- 
tions it was impossible but that jealousies should arise between 
them. The Governor frequently, and with justice, regarded 
the Intendant as a spy upon his conduct, and a check upon, his 
influence ; and each made frequent voluminous and often con- 
flicting reports to the king. The Council met every Monday, 
at first at the vice-regal chateau of St. Louis, and afterwa,rds 
in an old brewery, fitted up as a "Palace of Justice." Its 
jurisdiction covered every department of government, — legis- 
lative, judicial, executive, — from declaring war or peace to 
trivial municipal regulations, and the settlement of petty dis- 
putes, of which there seems to have been a great many. Many 
of the laws, like those of the New England Colonies, had ref- 
erence to moral observances, and were enforced with inquisito- 
rial rigour. The penalty for profane swearing, for instance, 
varied froin a fine up to branding, the pillory, and, in obstinate 
cases, the excision of the offending tongue. 

Subordinate courts were afterwards established at Quebec, 
Three Elvers, and Montreal; and" the seigneurs were empow- 
ered to settle disputes, " involving not more than sixty sous, 
or offences of which the fine was not more than ten sous." In 
a few instances, however, their jurisdiction was allowed to ex- 
tend beyond these narrow limits. The code of laws of the 

15 



114 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

mother country, known as the " Coutume de Paris," or custom 
of Paris, became the recognized colonial standard. 

M. de Mezy, the new Governor, failed to manifest that sub- 
serviency to the Bishop that the latter had expected. Raised 
from the control of the little garrison of Caen to that of a 
country as large as the whole of France, he soon gave evidence 
that he had a mind of his own. He found that the influence of 
the Jesuits was supreme in the colony, and was soon involved 
in disputes with their Order. This brought him into collision 
with Laval, who sustained the influence of the Fathers, who, by 
their toils and sufierings, were considered to have a title to a 
large share of political as well as spiritual influence. The 
meetings of the Council proved of a very stormy character. De 
Mezy proceeded to the violent exercise of his authority by 
expelling from the board two of its members, nominees of 
Laval, — Sieur Yilleray and JVI. Bourdon, the latter an officer 
corresponding to the attorney-general of later times, — and 
compelled them to return to France. It is even asserted that 
the Governor proceeded with a band of soldiers to the church 
where Laval was saying mass, as if for his arrest. The repre- 
sentations of the Bishop, and of the banished councillors, led 
to an order for the recall of the choleric De Mezy ; but he died, 
seemingly of chagrin and annoyance, before the summons 
reached Canada. 

Among the vast and towering schemes of the great minister, 
Colbert, for the extension of the commerce and influence of 
France, was the creation of the Company of the West, a 
giant monopoly, to which was granted the trade of half a 
world. It was invested with the absolute control, so far as the 
King of France could give it, of the commerce of western 
Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Verde, of South 
America between the Orinoco and the Amazon, of the An- 
tilles, and of the whole of New France, from the frozen shores of 
Hudson's Bay to the Spanish settlements of Florida, and the 
British seaboard colonies. For forty years it was to hold the 
monopoly of traffic in the furs of Canada, the sugar of the 
West Indies and Cayenne, and the slaves of the Guinea coast, 



ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 115 

in consideration of defraying tlie exi^enses of government and 
administration of justice, of i3romulgating the Catholic faith, 
and of excluding teachers of false doctrine from the colonies 
under its protection. But instead of fostering, it but tended 
to strangle, by its restrictions, the infant commerce of the 
colonies, and to extinguish the enterprise of colonial traders. 
The new system was inaugurated with considerable energy. A 
hundred families of emigrants arrived, and the prospects of 
the colony seemed to brighten ; but the inevitable consequence 
of vicious commercial restrictions was soon apparent in the lan- 
guor and lethargy that characterized the trade of New France. 
Simultaneous with these events was another, which was des- 
tined to affect the entire future history of the North lesi. 
American continent. The English sovereign, Charles II., had 
granted to his brother, the Duke of York, the country adjacent 
to the Hudson River, which for fifty years had been in the 
peaceable possession of the Dutch. Four English ships 
anchored before New Amsterdam, and demanded its surrender. 
The sturdy Dutch Governor, Peter Stuyvesant, tore into shreds 
the cartel of the British commander, and would fain have re- 
X3lied by the mouth of his cannon. The thrifty burgomasters, 
however, urged a capitulation, and after a short parley, the 
white flag was raised, and the Dutch settlers became British 
subjects. Out of compliment to the Duke of York, the place 
was re-named New York, and Fort Orange became Albany. 
The English strove steadily to divert the fur trade from the St. 
Lawrence to the Hudson, offering in barter better goods at 
lower prices than their French rivals. The Iroquois became 
their frequent allies, and for years held the balance of power 
between the hostile nations. These astute forest politicians 
soon saw that it was their interest to prevent either the French 
or English from conquering the other. When fortune favoured 
the English, their savage allies would break Gff their allegiance 
to them and make a separate peace with the French. Out of 
the commercial" greed of these formidable rivals sprang the 
cruel wars which long desolated the frontiers of New England 
and New France. 



116 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

In consequence of the representations of Laval and his par- 
tisans, as we have seen, De Mezy was superseded as Governor 
of New France. In order to settle certain disorders in the 
Antilles, to reorganize the government of Canada, and to so 
effectually reduce the Iroquois, as to prevent the recurrence of 
their murderous invasions, the Marquis de Tracy, a veteran 
1665. military officer, was commissioned by the king as his 
Lieutenant-General and Viceroy of all the French possessions 
in the New World. After accomplishing his mission in the 
West Indies, he reached Quebec in June, 1665. He was soon 
followed by the new Governor who had been appointed to suc- 
ceed De Mezy, — Daniel de Kemy, Sieur de Courcelles, — 
and by the first Intendant, Jean Baptiste Talon, a man of 
notable abilities, who was destined to exert a potent and benefi- 
cent influence on the future of Canada. With these distin- 
guished persons came, also, a numerous body of soldiers and 
settlers, both men and women, together with horses, sheep, 
cattle, implements, and military stores. The soldiers were 
that splendid body of troops known as the royal Carignan regi- 
ment, which had won glory in Hungary, fighting against the 
Turks. The scanty population of Quebec gazed with pride, 
and the Indian scouts with amazement, on the solid phalanx of 
these mail-clad warriors, as with roll of drums and peal of 
trumpets they climbed the steep ascent to the citadel. The 
mounted officers especially struck terror to the savage breast, 
as they were deemed inseparable from the horses they bestrode, 
the first the Indians had ever seen. The addition to the pop- 
ulation during the season was two thousand persons, about 
thirteen hundred of whom were veteran troops. " It was a 
company," says the chronicler, "greater than that which it 
came to re-enforce." 

The colony was now strong enough to wage an aggressive 
warfare against the Iroquois, a warfare which was regarded as 
a sacred crusade against the enemies of God, and was conse- 
crated with prayer and religious devotions. 

To check the inroads of the savages, by way of Lake Cham- 
plain and the Eichelieu, forts were built at Chambly and Sorel, 



ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 117 



which places received their names from the officers in command 
of the works. Alarmed at the ^Jreparations for war, the Onon- 
dagas, Cayugas, and Senecas sent an embassy to make^a treaty 
of^Deace with the French. The Mohawks and Oneldas re- 
mained hostile. De Courcelles, the Governor, a rash bnt 
gallant soldier, obtained permission from De Tracy, who, as 
Viceroy, was his superior, to lead an expedition against the 
enemy. It was midwinter, January 9th, when, after loee. 
solemn religious service, a brigade of five hundred men set out 
from Quebec for the distant Mohawk towns. Their course lay 
along the icy and difficult floor of the St. Lawrence. Each 
man^bore, besides his accoutrements and blanket, a pair of 
' snowshoes and twenty pounds of biscuit. The keen wind 
swept over the frozen river and chilled them to the marrow. 
They ascended the tortuous Eichelieu, and traversed the solid 
surface of lakes Champlain and St. Sacrament (Lake George) , 
encamping in the deep snow, gnawed to the bone by the bit- 
ing frost, and suffering severely from the unaccustomed mode 
of travel on snowshoes beneath heavy burdens. Eeaching 
the borders of the Mohawk country, a detachment of troops 
fell into an" ambuscade, and eleven were slain and seven 
wounded. Finding that he was trespassing on the territory 
recently ceded by the Dutch to the English, and conquered by 
the elements rather than by the savage foe, De Courcelles 
began a precipitate retreat. Sixty of his men. perished by 
cofd before he reached the frontier forts, and after a march of 
fifteen hundred miles, the worn and weary battalions regained 
Quebec. ' ' Surely," exclaims the contemporary English chr®n- 
icler, "so bould and hardy an attempt hath not hapned in 

any age ! " 

The expedition, disastrous as it proved in its issue, struck 
terror into the hearts of the Iroquois. The Mohawks alone 
continued their depredations. They attacked a hunting-party 
of 'the French, and killed a nephew of De Tracy, De Chasy by 
name. At Quebec were several Iroquois ambassadors, all 
anxious, as they professed, to make a treaty of peace. Not- 
withstanding the murder, negotiations were still going on, 



118 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

when two Mohawk chiefs arrived on the same ostensible errand. 
Being invited to dine with De Tracy, on reference being 
made to the death of young De Chasy, one of the Mohawks, 
raising his arm, boastfully exclaimed, "This is the hand that 
s|)lit that young man's head." De Tracy, in an outburst of 
indignation, declared that he should never kill anybody else, 
and ordered him to be ha!nged forthwith. This put an end 
to the negotiations for peace, and preparations were made for 
inflicting a crushing blow on the confederate tribes. 

During the following autumn De Tracy, then a veteran of 
nearly seventy years, organized an expedition for the subjuga- 
tion of the Iroquois. In three hundred boats, in the bright 
October weather, thirteen hundred men, including a hundred 
Indian allies and six hundred Carignau soldiers, threaded the 
mazes of the Eichelieu, and the lovely lakes, Champlain and 
St. Sacrament. Accompanied by a brilliant suite of officers, 
and with as much of the pomp and circumstance of European 
war as was practicable, De Tracy led the van. He was inop- 
portunely attacked by gout, and had to be carried on a litter. 
A hundred miles march through tangled woods, on short allow- 
ance of food, severely taxed the endurance of the troops. 
They were saved from starvation by finding a grove of chestnut- 
trees, filled with nuts. Coming on the Mohawk stockades, 
twenty drums sounded the charge, and two small cannon, which 
had been dragged through the woods, were brought into posi- 
tion. Terrified at the unaccustomed din, and at the seemingly 
endless files of the French debouching from the forest, the Mo- 
hawks abandoned town after town. At one stronghold they 
seemed determined to make a stand. It was defended by a 
triple palisade, twenty feet high, and was further protected by 
four flanking bastions. Magazines of stones were collected, 
and large vessels filled with water for the purpose of frustrating 
any attempt to fire the palisades. Some of the houses were a 
hundred and twenty feet long, with fires for eight or ten fairni- 
lies, after the communal system of the Iroquois. Immense 
quantities of Indian corn were concealed in subterranean gran- 
aries, and everything gave evidence of a higher grade of social 



ROYAL GOVERNMENT. ' ng 

development than was usual with the red race. But for the 
present, their fears of the invaders overcame their courage, and 
they all fled for refuge to the neighbouring forest. Unop- 
posed, the French took possession of all the towns ; the Te 
Deum was sung ; the mass was said ; the cross was planted, 
and De Tracy claimed the whole Mohawk country in the name 
of his roj'al master, Louis XIY. That night the forest was 
reddened with the flames of the burning Indian villages, with 
all their winter stores of maize, and soon naught remained but 
heaps of smouldering embers. With the early morning the 
little army was in full retreat, and, after many hardships, at 
length reached Quebec before winter fell. 

The British Governor of New York, hearing of De Tracy's 
invasion of what he considered English territory, endeavoured 
to organize, in concert with the New England colonies, an ex- 
pedition to cut off his retreat. But the project, through tardi- 
ness or indifierence on the part of the colonial authorities, 
proved abortive. 

The power of the Mohawks was now broken. Before spring, 
four hundred are said to have perished. The survivors learned 
to dread the strength of that arm which, at such a distance, 
could strike such a blow, and a treaty of peace was made, 
which gave rest to the long harassed colony for eighteen years. 
Several Jesuit missionaries went to live and labour among the 
conquered tribes, and by their influence the ferocity of the 
savage nature was sensibly modified, and many became, at 
least nominal converts to Christianity. A band of Mohawk 
neophytes exhibited such religious devotion, that the Superior, 
fearing the diminution of their zeal through the influence of 
their still pagan tribesmen, transferred them to the Mission of 
Prairie de la Madelaine, opposite Montreal. It was thought, 
also, that they would thus serve as a check to the invasion of 
the Iroquois should war break out. Certain it is that the wars 
of a later period were not characterized by the atrocious 
cruelties of those which we have already described. While the 
savages did not altogether cease to torture their prisoners, it was 
no longer with that fiendish ingenuity that wreaked its rage on 



120 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

the bodies of Jogues and Bressani, or Brebeuf and Lalemant, 
nor were they guilty of the disgusting cannibalism of the 
former period. 

Under the able administration of De Courcelles and Talon, 
after the departure of Tracy in ^667, the affairs of the colony 
greatly prospered. The Intendant especially laboured to de- 
velop the natural resources of the field, the forest, and the 
mine, as well as the fisheries, and the fur trade. He endeav- 
oured to promote manufacturing, shipbuilding, and trade with 
the West Indies. He began the construction of an interco- 
lonial road to Acadia, and extended explorations towards Hud- 
son's Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi. Many of his 
enlightened schemes are only being carried into efiect two 
centuries after his death. He procured the disbandment of 
the Carignan regiment in the colony, with grants of land to 
the ofiicers and men. Thus several hundred able-bodied sol- 
diers were retained in the country, to develop its resources 
and defend its frontier. 

In order to procure wives for the disbanded troops and un- 
married colonists. Talon, in conjunction with the home-authori- 
ties, procured a large immigration of marriageable young 
women of good character, to whom a handsome dowry, — 
'< an ox, a cow, a pair of swine, a pair of fowls, two barrels 
of salted meat, and eleven crowns in money," — was paid. 
A fine was imposed on celibacy, bounties were ofiered for 
early marriages, and on the arrival of the annual ship-load 
of candidates for matrimony, " couples were wedded," says the 
contemporary chronicle, " by thirties at a time." The pater- 
nal solicitude of the government went still further, and boun- 
ties were ofiered for the largest families, — a pension of three 
hundred livres a year for a family of ten children, and one of 
four hundred livres a year for a family of twelve children, 
born in lawful wedlock. 

The tenure of land in New France was a modification of the 
feudal system. Large blocks, of two or three leagues square, 
more or less, were granted to seigneurs, generally military 
officers, or scions of noble houses. These grants they held on 



ROYAL GOVERXMEXT. 



121 



condition of paying fealty to the king, or his ^eprese^tative, 
the Governor. This ceremony was annually observed in the 
Chateau of St. Louis at Quebec. The seigneurs were oblio-ed 
to pay to the royal or colonial treasury, when any sale of their 
land was made, a fifth of the purchase-money, hence called a 
quint; and were requu-ed to administer justice and maintain 
order within their domain. They were expected, if need were, 
to erect a log or stone fortress for the protection of their ten- 
ants during the frequent Indian wars, and to construct a mill 
for the grinding of their corn. This last served often as a 
loop-holed fortress and rallying point for defence. 

The military settlers became the tenants or censitaires of the 
seigneurs, often their former officers, to whom extensive do- 
mains had been assigned. The land grants of the disbanded 
soldiers, and others, were situated chiefly on the St. Lawrence 
and Eichelieu, and were generally a hundred arpents or French 
acres in size, having a narrow frontage on the river, and run- 
ning back about a mile and a half. These farms often became 
subdivided by inheritance into mere ribands of land, some of 
which have continued in the same family to the present time. 
In the absence of roads the iDroximity to the river furnished 
facilities for travel, and also for mutual protection. The Sul- 
pitian Fathers of Montreal, who were, in effect, the feudal 
lords of the island, surrounded their domain with a border of 
hardy settlers in fief, who formed an effective defence in the 
Indian attacks, to which the settlement was exposed. 

The censitaires paid to the seigneur a nominal rent ; but they 
were required also to pay a small annual tribute in kind, as a 
goose, a pair of fowls, or the like ; to labour for his benefit a cer- 
tain number of days in the year ; to get their corn ground at his 
mill, paying a fixed toll therefor ; to give him one fish in every 
eleven caught ; and, in case of a sale of their lands, to pay 
him one-twelfth of the price received. This, when th& value 
of the property was increased by buildings, or improve- 
ments, gi'ew to be an intolerable tax. This system of seign- 
eurial tenure was only entirely abolished in 1854. The rents 
were often absurdly low. At Montreal, at this period, a com- 

16 



122 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

mon annual rate was half a sou and half a pmt of wheat per 
acre. The purchasing power of money was very great. Fuel 
sold at Quebec for one and threepence per cord, the amount of 
a day's wages. Eels were sold in the market at one shilling 
per hundred. 

Notwithstanding the patriotic efforts of Talon, the condition 
of Canada was anything but satisfactory. Trade, strangled by 
artificial restrictions, languished, and the West India Company 
grew rich at the expense of the colony. Almost the sole traffic 
was that in furs, which was unduly stimulated, to the great in- 
jury of the agricultural interests of the country. The- wild 
forest life had an irresistible fascination to the adventurous 
spirits of the time. Hundreds of the young men, disdaining 
the dull routine of labour, became coureurs de bois, — -"run- 
ners of the woods," — and roamed like savage nomads upon 
the distant shores of lakes Superior and Michigan. Meanwhile 
the fields languished for lack of tillage ; poverty and famine 
wasted the land. 

The commercial monopoly of the Company was the cause of 
intense dissatisfaction. It possessed the exclusive right of 
importation, and was therefore enabled to fix the price, both of 
the necessary supplies of life, and of the furs, fish, and other 
products of the country, with reference solely to its own inter- 
ests, without regard to the rights of the people. On the re- 
monstrance of Talon with Colbert, the Company was compelled, 
in 1671, to relinquish a part of its monopoly. The people 
were permitted to import goods on their own account, and also 
to purchase peltries from the trappers and hunters, both white 
and red. But they were compelled to pay to the Company a 
duty of one-fourth of the beaver-skins, and one-twelfth of all 
the buffalo-robes. 

At length, in 1674, the charter of the West India Company 
was rescinded, and the trade reverted directly to the Crown. 
The collection of the government tax of one-fourth and one- 
twelfth of all the beaver-skins and buffalo-skins respectively, 
was leased out to " Farmers-General," who bought up the re- 
mainder at a fixed price. The coureurs de hois, lawless and 



ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 123 

reckless, set at defiance the royal edicts issued for their re- 
straint, and glutted the market with furs for which there was 
no remunerative demand. In the year 1700, three-fourths of 
the stock at Montreal was burned, to make the rest worth 
exportation. 

A considerable number of Algonquin Indians, and the rem- 
nant of the Huron nation, had been gathered into mission com- 
munities by the Jesuit Fathers, and brought under at least the 
partial restraint of Christianity and civilization. But the 
white man's diseases, and the white man's vices, were more 
easily acquired than the white man's virtues. The deadly small- 
pox wasted the native tribes, in some cases almost to extinc- 
tion. Of fifteen hundred Indians at Sillery, nearly all were 
swept away by this dreadful plague. Tadousac and Three 
feivers, where hundreds of Indians had annually assembled to 
barter their rich furs, the spoils of half a continent, became al- 
most deserted. As we have already seen, the efiects of the 
white man's ' ' fire-water " was still more disastrous in demoral- 
izing and corrupting the native tribes. 

An act of vigour, on the part of Courcelles, prevented a 
threatened rupture of the peace, and indeed cemented its 
bonds all the more firmly. A Mohawk chief had been mur- 
dered for his furs by three French soldiers, and his tribesmen, 
of course, were eager for revenge. The Governor, hastening 
to Montreal, had the soldiers tried, and, on conviction, exe- 
cuted in the presence of a large assemblage of Iroquois depu- 
ties. At the same time, he declared that similar justice would 
be meted out to all violators of the public peace, whether red 
or white. This vindication of the majesty of law, made a pro- 
found impression on the Indian mind of the justice of the 
French, and confirmed them in their allegiance. 

As another barrier, against the inroads of the Iroquois, in 
the event of war with that restless race, which the French felt 
was pretty sure to take place, the fertile mind of Courcelles 
conceived the project of building a fort at the foot of Lake 
Ontario, or Lac St. Louis, as it was then called. By com- 
manding the entrance to the St. Lawrence, he would control at 



124 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

least one of the great avenues of approach from the Iroquois 
towns to the French settlements. But how should he build 
such a fort without awaking the hostility of those jealous tribes 
by what might seem to them a menace to their liberties ? He 
resolved to appeal to their cupidity. He invited the assembly 
of a council of Iroquois chiefs at Catarqui, the site of the pro- 
posed fort. A great feast was held, the peace-pipe was passed, 
many speeches were made, and the politic gifts of the French 
presented. The Governor then announced that, out of his great 
regard for his Iroquois allies, he had determined on building- a • 
fort on the spot where they were assembled, in order that the 
men of the forest cantons might more conveniently trade with 
their white brethren, than by making the long and perilous 
voyage down the rapids of the St. Lawrence to Montreal or 
Quebec. The project was hailed with delight, and the Indian 
deputies were eager for the early completion of the works that 
would place in the hands of the French the key of the naviga- 
tion of the St. Lawrence. The accomplishment of this wise 
design, however, was reserved, as we shall see, for the suc- 
cessor of Courcelles. 

M. Talon, the energetic Intendant of New France, was the 
rival of its Governor in efforts to advance its interests. Among 
his far-reaching schemes, was one which he laid before Colbert, 
the French minister of finance, for obtaining possession of 
New York, either by treaty or by conquest. The British col- 
onies on the Atlantic seaboard being thus divided, it was con- 
ceived that the subsequent reduction of the New England and 
Virginian settlements, would be comparatively easy. This 
astute policy failing. Talon zealously devoted himself to the 
exploration of the interior. The hoj)e of finding a passage, by 
means of the great lakes and rivers of the far West, across the 
continent to the Pacific Ocean, and the golden shores of China 
and India beyond, had not yet been abandoned. At all 
events, it was possible, by descending the great Father of 
Waters, of which he had heard, to find an outlet to the ocean, 
and by securing a southern seaport, to hold the Spaniards m 



ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 125 

check, and obtain a share of those vast regions to which they 
laid exclusive claim. 

The Intendant found in the Jesuit missionaries and adventur- 
ous fur traders, admirable agents for carrying out this policy. 
As we have seen, the missionary Fathers were the pathfinders 
of empire in the far West. Lured by their love of souls, they 
early penetrated the remotest wilderness to preach the Gospel 
to the wandering tribes of the forest. In 1615, within seven 
years after the founding of Quebec, and five years before the 
settlement of Plymouth Colony, a Catholic missionary had 
planted the cross and chanted the mass on the shores of the 
great inland sea, Lake Huron. From 1626 to 1649, except 
during the three years of British rule at Quebec, devoted bands 
of missionaries laboured and prayed and died in that rugged 
wilderness, for the salvation of souls. In 1640, Brebeuf and 
Chaumonot explored the southern shore of Lake Erie. In 
1641, as we have seen, Jogues and Raymbault preached to two 
thousand red men at the Sault Ste. Marie. In 1646, Pere de 
Quen threaded the gloomy passes of the Saguenay to teach the 
way of redemption to savage northern hordes. In 1660, Ren6 
Mesnard, though aged and infirm, set out for Lake ^Superior, 
reached Keweenaw Bay, and perished in the wilderness. The 
zeal of Laval burned to tread in the same path of trial and 
glory. In 1665, Pere Alloliez paddled his frail canoe over the 
crystal waters of Superior, beneath the pictured rocks, the 
columned palisades, the rolling sand-dunes of its southern shore, 
to its furthest extremity, and heard of the vast prairies and 
great rivers beyond. After dwelling two years on its shores, 
and having preached the Gospel to twenty tribes who came from 
afar to hear the wondrous story, he returned to Quebec for re- 
cruits for his mission. Such was his zeal, that after a single 
day's sojourn in the precincts of civilization, he was on his 
way back to the wilderness with another priest, Louis Nicolas, 
as his companion in holy toil. 

In 1670, Claude Dablon and James Marquette established a 
permanent mission at the rapids of St. Mary, a fiivourito fish- 
ing ground for all the neighbouring Indians. The following 



126 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



year, by the invitation of Talon, a great council of northwest 
tribes was assembled at this mission. Here was St. Lusson, 
the secular representative of Talon and the king, and his fifteen 
companions, in their most brilliant military dress. Here, in 
the vestments of their oiSce, were four Jesuit priests. Here, 
also, were the envoys of many a tribe, from forest and prairie, 
far and near. The background of the strange scene was the 
interminable forest, and in the foreground was the rapid river, 
where the waters of an inland sea, rushing down the steep in- 
cline, lash themselves to snowy foam. A large cross was 




SAULT STE. MARIK RAPIDS. 

raised, and the whole company of the French, bowing low be- 
fore the sacred symbol, chanted the ancient hymn, — 

Vexilla Eegis prodeunt ; 
Fulget crucis mysteruim. 

The baiiiiers of Heaven's King advance ; 
The mystery of the Cross shines forth. 

To a cedar post beside the cross was affixed a metal plate, en- 
graved with the royal arms of France. In feudal ceremonial, 
St. Lusson, raising a sod of earth in one hand and his sword in 
the other, took possession of the whole vast region in the 
name of his sovereign lord, Louis XIV. Of the proud do- 
minion -§o vauntingly proclaimed, naught now remains save the 



" ROYAL GOVERNMENT. 127 

name of some French Saint or Sieur given to lake or river, — 
this and nothing more. 

The further exploration of the far West, which Talon had 
already projected, and for the accomplishment of which he 
had already selected the agents, was to be the crowning glory 
of a succeeding administration. 

In the desolate regions around Hudson's Bay, the indefati- 
gable lutendant also asserted the sovereignty of France against 
the claims of the British. Trading-posts had been established 
by the English at the mouth of the lonely arctic rivers, whose 
names, Rupert, Albany, and Churchill, commemorate the aus- 
pices under which they w^ere founded. In 1671, the Jesuit 
Albanel, with two civil commissioners, penetrated the gloomy 
gorge of the Saguenay, to Lake Sto John. Wintering here, in 
the following spring they crossed the water-shed between the 
St. Lawrence and the Arctic Qcean, and on the shores of the 
vast and lonely Hudson's Bay, in the presence of delegates 
a from dozen savage tribes, took possession of the country in 
the name of the King of France. 

Even on the bleak coasts of Newfoundland the authority of 
of France was maintained. These shores were early visited 
by the shipping of almost every European nation, engaged in 
gathering the rich harvest of the sea upon its foggy banks. 
The English had made a few fishing settlements, as St. John's, 
and at Conception Bay, where the London and Bristol Com- 
pany, of which Lord Bacon was a member, had planted a col- 
ony as early as 1616. The jurisdiction of the coast was given 
to a British officer. Captain Whitburn, — "the first of those 
'Fishing Admirals,' as they were called, who governed the 
island from their vessel's deck." In 1622, Lord Baltimore or- 
ganized, upon the south and east coast of the island, the 
province of Avalon, but soon forsook it for the more genial 
climate and fertile soil of Maryland. 

The French had formed a settlement at the Bay of Plaisance, 
or Placentia, which, however, had remained in the hands of 
private parties ; but during the period of which we write, the 



128 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

king sent out a military officer, Sieur de Poyps, to hold it for 
the crown. 

In the midst of the great exploits and vast schemes just 
described, the government of Canada passed from the hands of 
Courcelles and Talon into those of successors well adapted to 
carry out their designs. In 1672, on the plea of ill-health, the 
Governor sought permission to return, and Talon, doubtless 
foreseeing the probability of collision with the fiery Frontenac, 
also requested his own recall. 



DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 129 



CHAPTEE X. 

DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 

Frontenac, Governor, 1672 — Joliet and Marquette Discover the Mississippi, 
1673 — La Salle — Founding of Fort Frontenac — La Salle's Explorations 
— Launch of the "GrifBn," 1679 — Cr&vecceur — La Salle's Winter March to 
Canada — Mutiny — Touti — Hennepin Explores the Upper Mississippi — 
La Salle Reaches the Mouth of Mississippi, 1682 — Visits France — Attempts 
to Colonize Louisiana — Loss of the " Aimable " and " Belle" — Disasters at 
Fort St. Louis — Futile Attempts to Reach Canada — Assassination of La 
Salle, 1687 — Tragic Fate of the Texan Colony. 

IN the year 1672, Louis de Biiade, Count de Frontenac, was 
appointed Governor, and M. Duchesneau, Intendant of 
Canada. Frontenac was a gallant soldier, of old and noble 
family, and characterized in a remarkable degree by both the 
virtues and vices of the haughty race from which he sprang. 
He was alternately condescending and overbearing, generous 
and jealous, magnanimous and irascible, pious and vindictive. 
He was already a lieutenant-general, had shone in courts, and 
was versed in books. He proved no less a successful leader in 
savage than in civilized warfare, and was more than a match in 
political cunning for the Machiavellis of the forest. His im- 
perious temper soon involved him in disputes with both Bishop 
and Intendant, and rendered his whole administration one of 
tumult and strife. 

The chief glory of Frontenac's administration, was the spirit 
of daring exploration and discovery, by which it was character- 
ized. In this respect it but followed out the wise principles 
and projects of Talon. That able administrator had already, 
before his resignation ot office, committed to zealous agents 
the task of discovering the great river of the West, described 
by the Indian neophytes of the mission of Sault Ste. Marie, as 
flowing through a vast and fertile region, from north to south, 
and by them named the Mechasepe, or, as some called it, the 
17 



130 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Mississippi. To the adventures of Louis Joliet and James 
Marquette, in solving this important problem, we must devote 
a few paragraphs. 

Joliet was the first native Canadian whose name was to be- 
come conspicuous in the annals of his country. He was born 
in Quebec, in 1645. He was educated by the Jesuits, and, 
while very young, resolved to become a priest. At the age of 
seventeen, he received the tonsure and the minor orders. He 
soon, however, abandoned thought of the priesthood and be- 
came a fur trader. He was selected by Talon to explore the 
copper mines of Lake Superior in 1669, and afterwards to join 
Marquette in the search for the Mississippi. 

Marquette, as we have seen, was one of the devoted band of 
Jesuit missionaries who toiled among the Indians on the shores 
of lakes Superior and Michigan. He was joined by Joliet at 
the mission of St. Ignace, on the Straits of Michillimackinac. 
On the 17th of May, 1673, in two bark canoes, with five 
men, they set out on their eventful journey. Coasting the 
shores of Green Bay, they reached the Fox Eiver. Ascending 
this stream for many miles, they crossed a difficult portage to 
the Wisconsin Kiver, and glided down its gentle current to the 
mighty Father of Waters. Day after day they sailed down the 
solitary stream for over a thousand miles, past the rushing Mis- 
souri, the turbid Ohio, and the sluggish Arkansas. Learning 
that the mighty river flowed onward to the Gulf of Mexico, 
and fearing that they would fall into the hands of the Spaniards, 
— more to be feared than the pagan of the wilderness, — they 
toilfully retraced their way to the mouth of the Illinois. 
Threading that stream they reached the site of Chicago, and 
sailed up Lake Michigan. Joliet hastened to Quebec to tell the 
story of the fair and virgin lands of the Far West, while Mar- 
quette remained to preach the Gospel to his beloved Miamis. 
Two years later, while on a preaching excursion, feeling his end 
to be near, though only in his thirty-eighth year, Marquette built 
a small booth of branches, and, requesting to be left to his devo- 
tions, died, like the heroic missionary explorer, Livingstone, 
while holding communion with his Maker. The beautiful river 



DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. 131 

and the busy town that bear his name perpetuate the memorj 
of the discoverer of the Great West. 

tToliet's tidings excited a profound interest in Canada. His 
dauntless enterprise led him subsequently to make an overland 
journey to Hudson's Bay, and to explore the coasts of Labra- 
dor. He received a grant of the Island of Anticosti, where he 
died in 1701. A county in his native province, and a mountain 
and city in Illinois, commemorate his fame. 

Still another name was destined to be forever identified with 
the early exploration of the Mississippi, — that of La Salle. 
Egbert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, was the heir of a wealthy 
burgher of Eouen, but he had forfeited his inheritance by en- 
tering a Jesuit seminary. His active spirit, however, was ill- 
adapted for scholastic life, and, leaving the seminary, he sailed 
for Canada, to seek his fortune in the wilderness. He received 
from the Sulpitian Fathers of Montreal, a grant of land at the 
head of the rapids above the city. Here he planted a trading- 
post, to which was subsequently given the name, either seri- 
ously or in derision, of La Chine, as if it were the first stage 
on the way to China, in allusion to La Salle's idea that that 
country could be reached by following, westward, the water- 
ways across the continent. 

Impelled by this idea. La Salle longed to explore the Far 
West, of which, even before Joliet's revelation, such exciting 
rumours had reached his eager ears. Having re-sold to the 
Seminary of St. Sulpice his seigneury at La Chine, he joined, 
in the summer of 1669, a company of Sulpitian priests wiio had 
resolved to emulate in the wilderness, the missionary zeal of 
their rivals, the Jesuits. With four and twenty men, in seven 
canoes, they left La Chine on the 6th of July. A month of 
arduous toil was consumed in overcoming the rapids of the St. 
Lawrence, and reaching Lake Ontario. Failing to procure a 
guide in the Seneca country, the adventurers pressed on to the 
head of Lake Ontario. Here they were met by Joliet on his 
return from his Lake Superior exploration, and the Sulpitian 
Fathers decided to visit the tribes on that great " unsalted sea," 
following the route shown on a map given them by Joliet. La 



132 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Salle, on the contrary, determined to solve the geographical 
problem of the West, and feigned sickness in order to part 
company from the Sulpitians without an open rupture. The 
latter pressed on by way of the Grand Eiver, lakes Erie and 
Huron, to Sault Ste. Marie, wintering near Long Point, on 
1670. Lake Erie, and taking possession of the country in the 
name of the King of France. Having apparently lost their 
missionary zeal, they returned, after three days sojourn at 
the Sault, by way of French Eiver, Lake Nipissing, and the 
Ottawa, to Montreal. 

The movements of La Salle during this time are involved in 
obscurity. It appears that he reached the Ohio, and, possibly, 
the following season. Lake Michigan and the Wisconsin ; but 
it is not certain that at that time he discovered the Mississippi, 
althouo:h it has been claimed that he did. 

One of the first acts of Frontenac, the new Governor, in pur- 
suance of the design of Courcelles, was the planting of a fort 
and trading-post at the foot of Lake Ontario,* both long known 
by his name, in order to check the interference of the English 
from Albany and New York with the fur-trade of the Indian 
allies of the French, and to prevent the inroads of the Iroquois 
in the event of war. The merchants of Montreal, Tliree 
Rivers, and Quebec were exceedingly jealous of the establish- 
ment of the fort, from a well-grounded apprehension that it 
would seriously affect their profits, by intercepting no small 
share of the lucrative fur-trade. Frontenac, however, by an 
imperious exercise of the royal authority, commanded the 
inhabitants of these settlements to furnish, at their own cost, 
a number of armed men and canoes for that v^y purpose. In 
1673. the month of June, he collected, at Montreal, a force of 
four hundred men, including mission Indians, with a hundred 
and twenty canoes, and two large flat-l3oats. These last he 
caused to be painted with glaring devices of red and blue, 
in order to dazzle the Iroquois by a display of unaccustomed 
magnificence. 

Frontenac infused his own indomitable energy into his little 

* Where Kingston now stands. 



* DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST, I33 

army. In two weeks they had overcome, with incredible toil, 
the difficnlties of the rapids and, threading the lovely mazes of 
the Thousand Islands, reached the waters of Lake Ontario. 
Frontenac had previously dispatched La Salle, who had re- 
turned from his first expedition to the West, and in whom he 
discerned a spirit kindred to his own, to summon deputies from 
the Iroquois towns to meet him at Cataraqui, the destined site 
of the new fort. A large number of Iroquois were already en- 
camped when Frontenac approached. Forming his little flotilla 
in battle array, he advanced with much military pomp, and 
landed near the site of the present city of Kingston.* Bivouac 
fires were soon lighted, guards set, and the " qui vive" of the 
French sentry was heard on the shores of Lake Ontario. 

The next morning, with roll of drums and much presenting 
of arms, the Iroquois deputies were conducted, between glit- 
tering files of soldiers, to the presence of the Governor and 
his staff, who were arrayed in their most brilliant uniforms. 
The stately manners and masterful address of Frontenac, — a 
born ruler of men, by turns haughty and condescending, impe- 
rious, and winning, — impressed the savages with respect, con- 
fidence, and good-will no less than did the splendour of his 
appearance and retinue. 

*' Children ! " he said,— not " brothers," as the French had 
previously called them, — " I am glad to see you. You did well 
to obey the command of your Father. Take courage ; you 
shall hear his word, which is full of peace and tenderness." 

He then magnified the power of the French, and, pointing to 
the cannon of his brilliantly painted flat-boats, admonished 
them of the consequences of disobeying his commands. He 
set forth the advantages of his friendship, and of the establish- 
ment of the new trading-post, and urged the claims of the 
Christian religion, both by its terrors and its rewards. The 
speech was accompanied by politic presents, — " six fathoms of 
tobacco," guns for the men, and prunes and raisins for the 
women and children, and generous feasts for all. 

* On the point to the west of the Cataraqui Bridge, at present occupied by 
the barracks. 



134 HISTORY OF CANADA. • 

Meanwhile the construction of the fort went rapidly forward. 
Trees were felled, trenches dug, and palisades planted, with a 
speed that astonished the indolent Indians. In ten days the 
fort was nearly completed, and leaving a sufficient force for its 
defence, by the 1st of August Frontenac reached Montreal. 
The grasp of a master's hand was felt. France held the key of 
the great lakes. 

The royal treasury was low, and the pleasure-loving sover- 
eign preferred to lavish its resources in court dissipations rather 
than in maintaining a fort in the heart of the wilderness. The 
1674. proposal of La Salle, who had gone to France to urge 
his suit, to re-imburse the cost of building Fort Frontenac, 
and to maintain it at his own expense, in consideration of ob- 
taining the privilege of the fur trade, was therefore accepted. 
He accordingly received the seigneury of Fort Frontenac, with 
its adjacent lands, and was soon able to raise large sums of 
money for the accomplishment of his designs. He rebuilt the 
wooden fort of Frontenac in stone, and constructed, for the 
prosecution of his fur trade, four small decked vessels, the first 
that ever floated on the waters of Ontario. 

But he nursed a nobler ambition in his soul than that of be- 
ing a successful fur trader, an ambition which was fanned to a 
still more ardent flame by the glory of Joliet's discovery. . 
Again visiting France, in 1678, he obtained, through the in- 
fluence of Colbert, a royal commission for exploration in the 
Far West, with authority to erect forts, and a monopoly of the 
traffic in bufl^alo-skins. Having engaged some thirty followers, 
and procured a supply of anchors, cables, rigging, tools, and 
merchandise, he sailed for Canada. Among his followers was 
one who proved of vast service in the execution of his bold 
designs, — Henri de Tonti, an Itahan officer, of dauntless 
daring and miflinching fidelity. He had lost a hand by the 
explosion of a grenade, and wore an iron substitute, which he 
sometimes used with striking efiect upon the astonished Indians. 
Another of La Salle's companions in exploration, was Father 
Hennepin, a Recollet friar, a man of great courage, but also 
of intense vanity, and, in the narration of his exploits, of 



DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 135 

unblushmg exaggeration, not to say mendacity. The Sieur de 
la Motte, an intelligent Frenchman, was also an efficient ally. 

On the 18th of November, a cold and gusty day, La Motte, 
Hennepin, and sixteen others, left Fort Frontenac in a little 
vessel of ten tons for the Niagara Kiver. Hugging the northern 
shore of Lake Ontario, in ten days they reached an Indian town, 
not far from the site of Toronto, and took refuge in the mouth 
of the Humber, where they were frozen in. Cutting their way 
out of the ice, on the 5th of December, they crossed the win- 
try lake to the Niagara, which they ascended as far as the 
rapids at Queenston. Skirting the cliff above the rugged gorge, 
the explorers beheld, amid its setting of sombre forest, the 
virgin loveliness of the great cataract. Hennepin's account 
and sketch of the Falls are graphic, though exaggerated. The 
party returned to the mouth of the river, and began the con- 
struction of a fort. So intense was the cold, that they had to 
thaw the frozen ground with hot water, before they could plant 
the palisades. In order to conciliate the Seneca Indians, who 
controlled the portage, and to obtain permission to maintain 
the fort. La Motte and Hennepin set out on a journey to the 
chief town of the tribe, beyond the Genesee Eiver, which they 
reached on the last day of the year. The Senecas accepted 
their gifts, but gave evasive answers to their petition, igts. 
and the disappointed ambassadors returned, foot-worn and 
weary, to the Niagara. 

La Salle had set sail a few days after La Motte. Already 
misfortune began to dog his footsteps, and his vessel was 
wrecked some thirty miles west of the Niagara Eiver, with the 
loss of all his provisions and merchandise. During the winter, 
La Salle, with two companions, returned, on foot, through the 
snow-encumbered woods, to Fort Frontenac, for additional naval 
supplies. Their bag of parched corn failed them on the way, 
and for two days they journeyed fasting. 

An essential part of the enterprise, was the construction of 
a vessel above the Falls. Ml the ropes and rigging rescued 
from the wreck, were therefore carried over the steep and 
rugged portage, extending from Lewiston to Cayuga Creek, a 



136 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

distance of twelve miles, Hennepin carrying on his shoulders 
his portable altar and its furniture. 

Here, amid short allowance of food and many other priva- 
tions, which were not compensated by the frequent masses and 
homilies of Hennepin, the little company toiled at the construc- 
tion of a vessel. Its huge ribs so provoked at once the aston- 
ishment and jealousy of the neighbouring Indians that, as a 
squaw informed the French, they determined to burn it on the 
stocks. In the spring, however, it was sufficiently advanced 
for launching, which ceremony took place amid the chanting of 
the Te Deum and salvos of miniature artillery. The armament 
of five small cannon made the vessel an effective floating fort. 
It received the name of the " Griffin," from the armorial bear- 
ings of Frontenac, and bore, carved upon the prow, the Q>^gj 
of that fabulous creature. 

Not till the month of Auo^ust did La Salle return to Niao-ara. 
Incited by his enemies, his creditors had seized his property 
for debts, which his seigneury would amply have discharged^ 
But his great enterprise might not brook delay, and with his 
usual fortitude, he submitted to the blow. 

On the 7th of August, the "Griffin," a goodly craft, of 
forty-five tons burden, spread her wings to the breeze, and, 
stemming the rapid current, entered Lake Erie. In three 
weeks, the pioneer mariners of the inland seas, thirty-four in 
all, reached the Michillimackinac mission, at the entrance to 
Lake Michigan, having escaped a violent storm on Lake Hu- 
ron. The strange apparition of the winged vessel, and boom- 
ing cannon, everywhere produced surprise and consternation. 
La Salle freighted the ' ' Griffin " with a cargo of furs in order 
to appease the clamours of his creditors, and sent her back to 
Niagara. She must have foundered in an autumnal storm, as 
she was never heard of again. 

Weary of waiting her return, he resolved to explore the in- 
terior. With Hennepin, Tonti, and thirty men, by the end of 
December, after many privations and adventures, he reached 
Lake Peoria, in the heart of the populous country of the Illi- 
nois. Here, amid the despondency, mutiny, and desertion of 



DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 137 

his men, he built a fort, to which, in allusion to his disasters 
and disappointments, he gave the name of CreveccEur, — Heart- 
break. Despatching Hennepin to explore the upper leso. 
waters of the Mississippi, and having seen well advanced the 
construction of a vessel of forty tons burden, in which he pur- 
posed descending the great river to the Gulf of Mexico, and 
sailing to the West Indies, the intrepid pioneer set out, on 
the 3d of March, with five companions, through wintry snows 
and pathless woods, to Fort Frontenac, more than a thousand 
miles distant, in order to procure stores, anchors, and rigging 
for his new vessel. 

The hardships of that terrible journey were almost unpar- 
alleled. The streams were impeded with floating ice, and the 
travellers had frequently to break a way for their canoe with 
axes, or to drag it for leagues through marsh or forest encum- 
bered with melting snow. They were at length compelled to 
abandon it altogether, and laden with arms, ammunition, 
blanket, and kettle, to wade, knee-deep, through slush, or 
inundated meadows. Game was scarce, and the pangs of 
hunger Avere added to the sufferings of fatigue. The Indians, 
too, were hostile. For days. La Salle and his companions 
were dogged by a war-party, and dared not light a fire at night 
to dry their saturated clothes. Snow, sleet, and rain, piercing 
winds and bitter cold, and weary marches through the woods, 
wore down their failing strength. Fever, cold, and spitting of 
blood attacked several of the Frenchmen, and even the Indian 
guide. On Easter Monday, they reached the fort on the 
Niagara, where the " Griffin" had been launched. 

La Salle alone, sustained by his indomitable energy, was 
capable of a further journey. But it was necessary for him to 
hasten on to Fort Frontenac. Tidino-s of disaster awaited him. 
Besides the confirmation of the loss of the " Griffin," with her 
valuable lading, he learned that a ship from France, freighted 
with his goods, valued at over twenty-two thousand livres, had 
bsen totally wrecked in the St. Lawrence. His agents had 
plundered him, his property had been seized for debt, and 
several of his canoes, with rich lading of furs, had been lost in 

18 



138 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

tlie rapids. Still his unconquerable will overcame every 
obstacle. He obtained in Montreal, the needed supplies and 
recruits for his great expedition, and was on the eve of setting 
out from Fort Frontenac on his return to Crevecoeur, when a 
more crushing blow fell upon him than any he had yet re- 
ceived. 

Two voyageurs arrived, bringing a letter from Tonti, his 
faithful Italian lieutenant, which stated that, shortly after La 
Salle's departure, the turbulent garrison of Crevecoeur had 
mutinied, plundered the stores, destroyed the fort, and thrown 
into the river the arms and goods they could not carry off. 
They also seized, at Michillimackinac, a quantity of furs belong- 
ing to La Salle, and plundered his forts on Lake Michigan, and 
at Niagara. Part of the rascal crew then fled to the English at 
Albany, and the rest, twelve in number, were advancing to 
Fort Frontenac to murder its seigneur. La Salle only braced 
himself for fresh energies. With nine trusty men, he pro- 
ceeded to intercept the mutineers. After a sharp resistance, in 
which two were slain, the survivors were captured and conveyed 
to Fort Frontenac, there to await their trial. 

La Salle's cherished enterprise seemed now utterly wrecked. 
Yet, he did not despair. On the 10th of August, he again set 
out for the country of the Illinois, with a company of twenty- 
five men. This time, he went by a new route. He ascended 
the Humber, from Lake Ontario, and, crossing a portage to 
the Holland Eiver, reached Lake Simcoe, and then descended 
sthe Severn to Lake Huron. Skirting the Manitoulin Islands, 
he hastened on with seven men, by way of Lake Michigan, 
and the Joseph, Kankeekee, and Illinois rivers to Crevecoeur, 
leaving the rest of his force to follow. Here a scene of horror 
awaited him. The great Illinois town of seven or eight thou- 
sand inhabitants, near which the fort was built, was a desolation 
of blackened embers, hideous with charred bodies, rifled from 
the Indian graves, and half devoured by wolves and buzzards, 
— on every side was evidence of massacre and havoc. The 
fort was utterly demolished, although the vessel still lay upon 
the stocks ; but no signs of Tonti, or of his companions, could 



DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. I39 

be found. La Salle, therefore, disheartened, but not despair- 
ing, retraced his steps to his fort of St. Joseph, where he gath- 
ered his men about him and awaited intelligence of his lost 
lieutenant. 

The story of that hero's adventures is one of tragic interest. 
After the flight of the mutineers, he, with his little band of 
Frenchmen, seven in all, removed to the Indian town, in order 
to conciliate its inhabitants. An unexpected storm of savage 
fury burst upon this forest community. The ferocious Iroquois, 
having well-nigh exterminated the Hurons, Eries, and An- 
dastes, sought new tribes to conquer. Five hundred painted 
warriors made their way through pathless forests, from the 
lovely lakes of central New York, to the fertile prairies of the 
Illinois. They burst like a hurricane upon the hapless town 
and soon made of a populous country a solitude. Having con- 
quered the Illinois warriors, the Iroquois completed their vic- 
tory by the wanton butchery of women and children, and the 
desecration of the graves. Tonti, after futile efforts to medi- 
ate, in which he was nearly slain, was only able to save his 
little company by retreat to Green Bay. Indeed, even retreat 
did not save them all, for Father Ribourde, the only heir of a 
rich Burgundian house, retiring to the forest to recite the office 
of his breviary, was cut off by a band of prowling savages. 

But what, meanwhile, had become of Father Hennepin, 
whom, as we have seen, La Salle had sent to explore the Upper 
Mississippi? The unquestioned courage and energy of that 
distinguished pioneer, were unhappily equalled by his vanity 
and mendacity. Bating all exaggerations, however, it appears 
that he, with his two companions, followed the course of the 
mighty river almost to its source, far beyond the beautiful Falls 
of Minnehaha, which he named after St. Anthony of Padua. 
The (iaring explorers were captured by the Sioux, Avho mani- 
fested the same intractable spirit that still characterizes that 
tribe. After many hardships, they made their escape, and 
returned, by way of the Wisconsin and the lakes, to Canada, 
to tell their remarkable story. 

With consummate tact and eloquence and skill in the man- 



140 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

agement of the red race, La Salle organized a confederacy of 
western tribes, as a bulwark against the invading Iroquois, and 
as the allies of the colony and trading-post, which he purposed 
1681. planting on the Illinois. To appease his creditors, and 
to collect means for carrying out his project, he must again 
visit Canada. Paddling a thousand miles in a frail canoe, he 
reached Fort Frontenac. Obtaining fresh supplies of goods, 
arms, and ammunition, by mortgaging his already heavily en- 
cumbered seigneury, he returned to the country of the Illinois. 
16S2. With his faithful lieutenant, Tonti, twenty- three French- 
men, and eighteen Indians with their squaws, he started upon 
his eventful voyage of discovery. Having abandoned, for a 
time, the idea of building a vessel, he resolved to trust to 
canoes. It was midwinter, and the canoes and stores had to 
be dragged for some distance on sledges over the snow. At 
length, after floating down the tranquil waters of the Illinois, 
on the 6th of February the frail barks were launched on the 
broad bosom of the Mississippi. For sixty days they glided 
down the giant stream, leaving behind the icy realm of winter^ 
and entering the genial domain of spring. Savage tribes were 
awed by displays of pov/er, or conciliated by the bestowment of 
gifts. On the 6th of April, the broad, blue, heaving billows of 
the Gulf of Mexico burst upon their view. With feudal pomp 
and religious ceremony, La Salle proclaimed the sovereignty of 
Louis le Grand over the vast country of Louisiana, — a country 
embracing the whole mid-continent, from the sources of the 
Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico ; from the Alleghanies to the 
Eocky Mountains. The gallant explorer joined in the grand 
Te Deum and Vexilla liegis, and volleys of musketry, and 
shouts of Vive le Jioi, confirmed the annexation of half a con- 
tinent to the domain of France.* 

La Salle now set his face northward, eager to dispatch the 
new^s of his discovery to Canada, and to France. But an in- 
vasion of the Illinois country by the Iroquois was imminent. 
He therefore tarried to build, with vast toil, a new fort, St. 

•f 

* The Ohio aucl the Mississippi received the names respectively of Eiver St. 
Louis and Eiver Colbert. 



DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 141 

Louis, at " Starved Rock," * an isolated cliff, with steep escarp- 
ments, overhanging the Illinois River. But Frontenac had 
been re-called from the government of Canada, and the in- 
trigues of La Salle's enemies, led by La Barre, the new Gov- 
ernor, were unrestrained. His discoveries were discredited, his 
character was maligned, his seigneury was seized, his authority 
was superseded, he was summoned to Quebec, and an officer 
was sent to assume command of his new fort, St. Louis. 

La Salle hastened to France to defend himself as-ainst the 
accusations of his enemies, and to solicit the aid of the Crown 
in carrying out the grand emprise, in which he had exhausted 
his private fortune. In his memorial to the King, he modestly 
sets forth his claims for assistance. "To acquit himself of 
the commission with which he was charged," he says, writing 
of himself in the third person, " he had neglected all his pri- 
vate aflfairs, because they were alien to his enterprise ; he had 
omitted nothing that was needful to its success, notwithstand- 
ing dangerous illness, heavy losses, and all the other evils he 
had suffered. During five years, he had made five journeys of 
more, in all, than five thousand leagues, for the most part on 
foot, with extreme fatigue, through snow and through water, 
without escort, without provisions, without bread, without 
wine, without recreation, and without repose. He had trav- 
ersed more than six hundred leagues of country, hitherto un- 
known, among savage and cannibal nations, against whom he 
must daily make fight, though accompanied by only thirty-six 
men, and consoled only by the hope of succeeding in an enter- 
prise which he thought would be agreeable to his majesty." f 

Nor were these statements, as we have seen, exaggerations. 
He had expended on this enterprise one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand crowns, and was now so impoverished that, unless subsi- 
dized by the King, his lofty projects for the glory of France, 
and extension of her dominion, must fail. He therefore asked 

* So named from being the last refuge of a party of Illinois, who were starved 
to death by their enemies. 

t Quoted from a contemporary document by Parkman, " Discovery of the 
Great West," p. 302, note. 



142 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

for one vessel and two hundred men for one year, in "vvhich 
time he proposed to fortify the mouth of the Eiver Colbert or 
Mississippi, thus controlling eight hundred leagues of inland 
navigation ; to organize a force of fifteen thousand savages ; 
1684. and to attack the Spaniards and seize the rich mines of 
Mexico. Dazzled by this gigantic scheme, -which La Salle 
must have known, greatly transcended his ability to execute, 
the King placed at his disposal four vessels, with a military 
force, and re-instated him in possession of his Canadian seign- 
eury, which, it will be remembered, had been seized by La 
Barre. 

On the 1st of August, the ill-fated expedition, numbering, 
including soldiers, sailors, and settlers, two hundred and eighty 
in all, set sail from Eochelle. Beaujeu, who was invested with 
the naval command, entertained an intense jealousy of La 
Salle, and did all in his power to thwart his designs. Many of 
the recruits for the colony were beggars and vagabonds from 
the streets of Eochelle and Eochefort, and prov^ed turbulent and 
mutinous. When the fleet reached St. Domingo, fifty men, 
on board the " Joly," the principal vessel, were sick, La Salle 
among the number. Tossing in the delirium of fever, in a 
wretched garret, under a tropical sun, he well-nigh lost his 
life. The control of his firm hand removed, the turbulent col- 
onists became utterly demoralized ; and the carping, mousing, 
ineflScient Beaujeu employed himself in writing censorious 
letters to the minister of marine, maligning the sick man, whose 
true greatness he was incapable of comprehending. 

After a month's delay, pale and haggard and weak, La Salle 
was able to sail again. By a fatal mistake, the little fleet 
missed the mouth of the Mississippi, and sailed some two hun- 
dred miles to the west of it. In attempting to enter Matagorda 
Bay, on the Texan coast, the " Aimable," his principal store- 
ship, was wrecked. La Salle thought by design, on a sand-bar, 
with the loss of nearly all the provisions, arms, ammunition, 
tools, medicines, baggage, and other goods — a blow of crushing 
calamity to the infant colony. The base-souled and treacherous 
Beaujeu, to whose machinations the disaster was probably due. 



DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. 143 

now set sail and abandoned the disheartened settlers to their 
fate. A rude redoubt and a few hovels were built of drift- • 
wood and fragments of the wreck upon the wild, inhospitable 
shore, named, in feudal fealty, St. Louis. 

The neighbouring Indians proved hostile, prowled around 
the frail fort, and stole some of the goods rescued from the 
^\Teck. In attempting to recover them, two of the Frenchmen 
were slain. Another was bitten by a snake and died. Two 
men, preferring the risk of starving on the prairie to the hard- 
ships of the camp, deserted. Others attempted to escape, but 
were caught, and one was hanged. La Salle set out to explore 
the country. A conspiracy to murder Joutel, his lieutenant, 
was discovered and crushed. La Salle returned to report the 
disastrous intelligence that they were far from the Mississippi, 
the goal of their hopes. Gloom, and almost despair, settled 
upon every soul but that of the unconquerable commander. 
During the summer, more than thirty of the colonists died, and 
many of the survivors were smitten with mortal illness. 

It was absolutely necessary to find the Mississippi. La Salle, 
therefore, on the 1st of November, set out in quest of that 
"fatal river." Five weary months dragged on, when, one 
day, seven or eight travel-worn men, with patched and tattered 
clothing, appeared before the fort. They were La Salle igss. 
and his companions in misfortune. He had failed in the object 
of his search, and the " Belle," a little vessel on which he had 
depended for the transport of his colony to the Mississippi, was 
wrecked, with the' loss of many lives, and of all his papers, 
and the bulk of the stores, ammunition, and tools rescued from 
the " Aimable." 

La Salle now made the desperate resolve to attempt an over- 
land journey to Canada, for succours for his iU-starred colony. 
Having patched their ragged clothing with deer or buffalo skins, 
after mass and prayers, the forlorn hope, each man bearing his 
pack and weapons, set forth on their long and perilous route. 
Six months more dragged their weary length along, when La 
Salle once more appeared at his Texan fort, wasted with fever, 
worn with fatigue, and again baffled in his attempt to reach the 



144 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

" fatal river," as by common consent the Mississippi was 
called. Of twenty men who had gone out with him, but eight 
returned. Four had deserted, the rest had succumbed to the 
perils of the journey. 

The condition of the colony was now desperate. Of over 
two hundred settlers only forty remained alive, several of whom 
were women and children, and most of the men were com- 
pletely demoralized by treachery, mutiny, vice, or disease. La 
Salle alone, by his unconquerable will and audacity of hope, 
curbed their turbulent spirits and saved them from despair. A 
dreary Christmas and Twelfth Mght, were celebrated with fes- 
1687. tive cups filled with water instead of wine. A journey 
to Canada was clearly the only resort. The sails of the 
"Belle" were cut up to make clothing for the travellers, and 
after midnight mass, and bitter parting of sighs and tears, and 
last, long embraces, La Salle and twenty men started on the 
fatal journey, soon to end, for him and others, in disaster and 
death. 

Among his followers, were some turbulent spirits, — ex-buc- 
caneers, and the like, — who ill-brooked the restraints of his 
rigorous discipline, and resented his stern and haughty manner. 
A nephew of the great explorer, a hot-headed youth, also pro- 
voked their malice by his imperious and inconsiderate conduct. 
It was resolved by the mutineers to murder both uncle and 
nephew, and their most attached followers ; and, throwing oif the 
restraints of civilization, to join some Indian tribe, and share 
their savage life. 

La Salle seemed to have a presentiment of his fate. " On 
the day of his death," writes the K^collet friar, who witnessed 
his assassination, "he spoke to me of nothing but matters of 
piety, grace, and predestination ; enlarging on the debt he 
owed to God, who had saved him from so many perils during 
more than twenty years of travel in America." His nephew 
and two faithful servants had been already murdered while out 
hunting, and he, proceeding to ascertain their fate, walked into 
an ambuscade and was treacherously slain bj a musket-shot. 
" There thou liest, great bashaw ! " cried one of the murderers 



DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. I45 

in cruel exultation over his corpse. With unutterable baseness, 
they stripped the body naked, and left it unburied on the 
prairie, to be devoured by buzzards and wolves. 

The animating spirit of La Salle was not the religious 
enthusiasm of the Jesuit missionaries, nor the patriotic devotion 
of Champlain, but rather a vast ambition, a passion for dis- 
covery, an intense energy of character, which courted difficulty 
and defied danger. The story of his life is one almost 
unbroken Iliad of disaster. He failed in that magic gift of 
successful leadership, that disarms jealousy and inspires enthu- 
siasm equal to its own. He was the victim of unscrupulous 
rivals, and of craven-hearted traitors. His splendid services to 
France and civilization merited a better fate than liis tragic and 
treacherous death, at the ^arly age of forty-three, upon the 
Texan plains. 

The assassins soon quarrelled among themselves, and, for the 
most part, perished by mutual slaughter, or were murdered by 
the Indians. The Kecollet friar, Jean Cavelier, a Sulpitian 
priest, and elder brother of La Salle, with five others, made 
their way, with incredible hardship, by route of the Mississippi 
and Illinois, the great lakes, and the French and Ottawa rivers, 
to Canada, and proceeded to France, where the tragic story 
awoke much commiseration. 

The brave Tonti, La Salle's faithful lieutenant, set out from 
Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois, to succour the wretched rem- 
nant of the Texan colony. The mutiny and desertion of his 
followers, floods, fever, and semi-starvation prevented the 
accomplishment of his generous purpose ; and he subsequently 
died in obscurity, more fortunate in this than nis unhappy 
chief. 

Two years later, a Spanish force from Mexico, sent to ex- 
terminate the French intruders, discovered the ill-starred Texan 
fort. But no sentry challenged their approach, no banner 
waved above the frail redoubt, the silence of death reigned 
over all. They entered, and beheld a scene of ravage and ruin. 
On the prairie without lay three dead bodies, one that of a 
woman. From a painted and wandering savage, once a French- 

19 



146 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

man, and follower of La Salle, now lapsed to barbarism, they 
learned the massacre of the wretched remnant of the colonists, 
wasted by small-pox, sick at heart of hope deferred, and per- 
chance welcoming death, as a release from theii sufierings. 
Thus ended, in disappointment, disaster, and death. La Salle's 
vast and towering schemes of conquest and commerce and colo- 
nization. 



THE 4.GONT OF CANADA. 



147 



CHAPTER XI. 

"THE AGONY OF CANADA." 

Civil Disputes — Frontenac's Conflict with Perrot and Laval — Frontenao re. 
called — La Barre, Viceroy, 1682 — Iroquois War Eenewed — Disaster of 
Famine Cove, 1684 — Denonville, Viceroy — Seizes Iroquois Chiefs — Defeats 
Senecas — Plants Western Forts — Iroquois Ravage Frontier — Treachery of 
Le Eat (Kondiaronk) — Massacre of Lachine, the "brain-blow" of Canada, 
1689. 

'TTT'E must now return to trace the internal history of Can- 
V V ada, from which we have been diverted by the consid- 
eration of La Salle's eventful career. 

During the ten years of Frontenac's first colonial administra- 
tion, his haughty and overbearing manners involved him in 
perjietual disputes with the Bishop, the Intendant, the Council, 
the Jesuits, — in fact, with all who opposed his often arbitrary 
will. M. Perrot, the Governor of Montreal, being accused of 
traffic with the Indians, contrary to the ordinances of the King, 
he was summoned to Quebec by Frontenac, and by a violent 
exercise of power, imprisoned in the Castle of St. Louis. 
Perrot, who held his commission from the King, declined to 
recognize the authority of Frontenac, and remained in durance 
for a whole year. The Abbe Fenelon, parish priest of Montreal, 
and brother of the celebrated Archbishop of Cambray, in his 
Easter sermon, strongly inveighed against the arrest of Perrot, 
and was cited before the choleric Count for this breach of priv- 
ilege, as it was considered. He denied, as an ecclesiastic, the 
jurisdiction of the Council, and wore his hat in the presence of 
the Governor. He, also, was imprisoned, and with Perrot 
was, shortly, after, sent under arrest to France. They were 
both, however, reinstated by the King, to the intense chagrin 
of Frontenac. 

The Governor shared all the despotic instincts of his sover- 
eign, and -sought to centre in himself all authority. The In- 



148 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

tendant, Duchesneau, as fond of power as Frontenac, claimed 
the presidency of the Council, and did his utmost to thwart the 
policy of the Governor. Through these rivalries, the council 
chamber became the scene of unseemly dissension and bicker- 
ings. 

The fiery Count was also involved in bitter controversy with 
Laval and the Jesuits. Both the latter strenuously opposed 
the liquor traffic as demoralizing to both Indians and white men. 
The Governor considered it necessary for the successful prose- 
cution of the fur trade, and asserted that its evils were greatly 
exaggerated. But the cause of justice and humanity triumphed 
over that of selfish policy, and the King prohibited the sale of 
liquor to the Indians. Frontenac, however, continued to main- 
tain his position chiefly through his relationship to Madame de 
Maintenon, and through the influence of his wife, a reigning 
beauty, at the court of Louis XIY. At length, wearied with 
complaints, the King re-called both Governor and Intendant, in 
1682, and appointed M. de la Barre and M. de Meules as their 
successors.* 

La Barre was a naval officer of considerable reputation, 
but lacking the prompt decision and energy of character that 
the exigencies of the times demanded. On his arrival in Can- 
ada, he found the country threatened with the outbreak of an- 
other Iroquois war. The English colonists had increased to 
tenfold the number of the French, and their fur traders were 
everywhere endeavouring, by intrigue, by persuasion, by un- 
derselling their rivals in the luxuries of savage life, to divert 
the profitable traffic in peltries from Montreal and Quebec to 
Albany and New York. 

Colonel Dongan, the Governor of New York, notwithstand- 
ing the friendly relations between his sovereign, Charles 11. , 
and Louis XIV., fomented the ancient antipathy of the Iro- 
quois to the French. These astute forest politicians,, courted 
and flattered by the English, were not slow to perceive the ad- 
vantage to be derived from alliance with this growing power, 

* In this year, a disastrous fire, the first of several such, destroyed a large 
part of Quebec. 



THE AGONY OF CANADA. I49 

which they seem to have foreseen, was destined to be the victor 
in the conflict with the French for the mastery of the 'lesa. 
continent. It was their policy, liowever, to prolong the con- 
test. For they could not but perceive that the supremacy of 
either would be followed by the subjugation of themselves. 
This was the explanation of the seemingly strange vacillations 
of the Iroquois, — now fighting in the interest of the English, 
and then, in the very hour when victory seemed within their 
grasp, making peace with the French. 

La Barre assembled . a council of the principal men of note 
in Canada, military and civilian, clerical and lay, to take 
measures for the defence of the country. The Iroquois had 
recently, as we have seen, invaded the territory of the Illinois, 
then allies of the French, and massacred or captured several 
hundreds of victims. A Seneca war-party had also waylaid 
and plundered a company of French traders. An appeal was 
therefore made to the King for a re-enforcement of three hun- 
dred soldiers, and thirteen hundred labourers to cultivate the 
fields, that the Canadians, accustomed to bush-fighting, might 
be organized for active service. Only two hundred troops 
could be spared, and of agricultural immigrants, none. Al- 
though thousands of intelligent and industrious Huguenots 
were being driven out of France by persecution, to enrich with 
their skilled labour the rival countries of England and Holland, 
they were not allowed to pollute with their heresy the soil of 
Canada, jealously guarded by the King as a preserve for Cath- 
olic orthodoxy. The English Governor at New York, though 
interdicted by his sovereign from the commission of any overt 
hostility, and maintaining courteous correspondence with La 
Barre, did not scruple secretly to stimulate the outrages of the 
Iroquois. 

The French first attempted to weaken the confederacy of the 
Five Nations, by making separate treaties with the Cayugas, 
Oneidas, and Onondagas, who amused the credulous Governor 
with promises which they had no intention of keeping. The 
attacks of the Iroquois on the French forts in the west, now 
compelled La Barre to assume the ofiensive. But instead of 



150 HISTORY OF CANADA: 

striking a sudden blow, he wasted time ii attempting to pro- 
cure!' the co-operation of Dongan, the last thing he was likely 
to get. 

At length, mustering a force of a thousand militia-men and 

1684. Indians, with a few regulars, he set out from Montreal 
to invade the Seneca country, by way of the Niagara Hiver. 
Two weeks had been spent in negotiations with Dongan ; as 
much more was consumed at Fort Frontenac. The provisions 
were fast being consumed. Through the incompetence and 
delays of La Barre, his command endured extreme privations 
for want of food. Disease and death wasted them away 
while lingering at Famine Cove, near Oswego, — so named on 
account of their sufferings. Here a deputation from the con- 
federate tribes haughtily dictated terms of peace with the 
French, on the promise of their immediate evacuation of the 
Iroquois territory. To the demand of La Barre, that the 
peace should also include the Illinois, five hundred of whom 
were within a day's march, on their way to help the French, the 
Iroquois scornfully replied, "Not while a warrior of either 
tribe remains alive ! " 

Intensely chagrined, the luckless commander accepted the 
disgraceful terms. On reaching Quebec, he was more morti- 
fied to find that a re-enforcement of soldiers had arrived. De- 
spatches also awaited him, urging the utter extirpation or severe 
chastisement of the revolted tribes; and, "as the Iroquois 
were stout and strong, and would be useful in the Kings's gal- 
leys," that the Governor should make prisoners of a large num- 
ber and have them shipped to France as galley slaves. La 
Barre was not in a position to comply with either of these 

1685. requests, and was shortly after recalled in disgrace. He 
was succeeded by the Marquis de Denonville, a dashing cavalry 
officer. The Chevalier de Callieres, also a brave soldier, was, 
at the same time, appointed Governor of Montreal. 

Denonville, who was shortly followed by six hundred regu- 
lars, after a few hours' rest at Quebec, pushed on to Fort Fron- 
tenac. This place he greatly strengthened, and proposed the 
establishment of a fort and garrison of five hundred men at 



THE AGONY OF CANADA. 151 

Niagara, as a check to the interference of the British in the 
Northwest fur trade. His lucid reports on the state of the 
country, sent to the King, are valuable historical documents. 

Colonel Dongan meanwhile, alarmed at this vigorous policy, 
assembled the principal Iroquois chiefs at Albany, and lese. 
urged them to break entirely with the French, to expel their 
priests and receive English Jesuit missionaries, and, above all, 
to extend the English fur trade to the Northwest tribes. He, 
for his part, pledged his assistance if they should be attacked 
by the French. Without entirely committing themselves to 
these plans, the politic chiefs streng-thened their alliance with 
the English. 

Denonville, deeply incensed, determined on a vigorous war- 
policy toward the Five Nations, notwithstanding the igst. 
promised aid of their English allies. He was guilty, however, 
of an act of treachery, which left a stain upon his name, and 
greatly embittered the Iroquois. Through the influence of the 
Jesuit missionaries, he induced fifty of their chiefs to meet him 
for a conference at Fort Frontenac. To gratify the whim of 
the King, he seized their persons, and shipped them in irons to 
France, to toil in the royal galleys. Though deeply incensed, 
the Iroquois, with a magnanimity shaming the perfidy of the 
Frenchman, spared the lives of the unwitting instruments of 
this cruelty, the Jesuit priests, and sent them unharmed out of 
the country. 

In June, 1687, with eight hundred regulars, a thousand 
militia, and three hundred Indian allies, in two hundred bat- 
teaux, Denonville left Montreal to attack the Senecas. At the 
mouth of the Genesee Eiver he was joined by four hundred 
Illinois Indians. The advance guard fell into an ambuscade, 
but wdth the aid of their red allies, the French defeated the 
Senecas with great loss. Denonville spent ten days in ravaging 
the country, burning the villages, and destroying an immense 
stock of maize, — over a million bushels, says one account, — 
and a prodigious number of hogs. Proceeding to the Niagara, 
he rebuilt La Salle's fort and garrisoned it with a hundred men. 
He also planted palisaded posts at Toronto, Detroit, Sault Ste. 



152 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Marie, Michillimackinac, and on the Illinois River, as a barrier 
against the encroachments of the English or their Iroquois allies. 

The whole Five Nations now united to avenge the slaughter 
1688. of the Senecas. They attacked and razed Fort Niagara, 
whose garrison, reduced by famine and disease to ten men, 
fled. They prowled like famished wolves all along the frontier. 
They lay in wait near every settlement, thirsting for Christian 
blood. They ravaged the country, killed the cattle, burned the 
stacks and houses with flaming arrows, and menaced the river 
seigneuries, and even the garrison of Fort Frontenac. During 
this fatal year, over a thousand of the colonists fell by the 
scalping-knife or tomahawk of their relentless foe, and as many 
more by the dreadful small-pox which devastated the country. 

In this extremity, negotiations for peace were opened under 
the menace of a thousand Iroquois warriors, assembled in force 
at Lake St. Francis. These, under the malign influence of the 
English, demanded the restoration of their betrayed chiefs, now 
toiling in the royal galleys in France, and the destruction of forts 
Frontenac and Niagara. While the negotiations were pending, 
a crafty Huron chief, Kondiaronk, or " The Eat," a forest 
Machiavelli, offended at the prospect of a treaty with his hered- 
itary foe, by a deed of double treachery, effectually "killed 
the peace," as he boasted, and revived, with intense violence, 
the horrors of savage war. Learning that an Iroquois embassy 
would descend the Oswego River, he placed an ambuscade at a 
portage, which they would have to pass, and killed or captured 
the entire party. "\¥hen his prisoners indignantly remonstrated 
at this violation of the truce, the crafty Kondiaronk, with well- 
feigned surprise, declared that he was unaware of the nature of 
their mission, and that he had been set on by the French in 
making the attack. He expressed extreme regret and abhor- 
rence at the act of treachery of which, he avowed, he had been 
made the unwilling agent. As a pledge of his sincerity, he set 
his prisoners free, with the exception of one, whom he retained 
for adoption, in f)lace of a Huron who had been killed. 

"With this destined victim of his cruel cunning, he hastened 
to Michillimackinac and delivered his prisoner up as a captive, 



THE AGONY OF CANADA. 



153 



taken in war. The French commandant, iniaware of the truce 
which had been proclaimed, ordered, after the savage custom 
of the time, the execution of the Iroquois. In vain the un- 
happy man asserted his character as an ambassador of peace, 
and appealed for confirmation to Kondiaronk. That crafty and 
cruel wretch shook his head, and declared that the man's mortal 
terror must have turned his brain. No sooner was the hapless 
victim slain than Le Eat, with envenomed tongue, protested to 
an old Iroquois chief, held in bondage, his indignation at the 
outrage committed in the miu'der of an envoy of peace ; and 
loosing his bonds, he bade him to fly and warn his tribesmen 
of the treachery of the French. Such double-dyed duplicity 
can hardly be matched in all the annals of crime. 

The culminating act in this bloody drama, was the massacre 
of Lachine, in 1689. On the night of August 5th, twelve hun- 
dred painted warriors landed, amid a shower of hail, on the 
Island of Montreal. Before daybreak they lay in wait around 
every dwelling in the doomed village. At a given signal, the 
dreadful war-whoop awoke the sleepers to a death-wrestle with 
a pitiless foe. Men, women, and children were dragged from 
their beds and indiscriminately butchered with atrocious cruelty. 




OLD STONE TOWERS, MONTREAL. 

The houses were fired, and two hundred persons perished in 
the flames. As many more were carried off for the nameless 
horrors of deliberate torture. For two months the victors 
ravaged the island, the besieged inhabitants of Ville Marie 

20 



154 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



cowering in mortal fear behind their palisades.* On the first 
assault, M de Kobeyre, a gallant officer, threw himself, with a 
small body of soldiers, into Foi-t Eoland, an exposed post. 
He continued to hold it, against fearful odds, till his last man 
was slain, and he himself was mortally wounded, — a deed of 
valour rivalling the heroic achievement of Dulac des Ormaux. 

This ' ' brain-blow " seems to have staggered the colony. 
Fort Frontenac was blown up and abandoned. The dominion 
of France in the New World, was practically reduced to the 
forts of Quebec, Three Elvers, and Montreal. At this hour of 
its deepest deiDression, Denonville was recalled, and the fiery 
Frontenac was re-appointed Governor. 




ANCIENT 
FOUND AT 



HAIEERT 
MONTREAL. 



* Among the most interesting relics of the early- 
history of Montreal are the two old stone towers 
shown on the preceding page. They date back to the 
period of the Indian wars above described, and were 
erected as defences against the attacks of the savages. 
One of them was long used as a chapel, and contains an 
altar and several interesting mortuary inscriptions. One 
of these comniemorates a Huron chief, baptized by 
Br^beuf, who died, aged about a hundred years, in 1690. 
" II fut," says his epitaj)h, " par sa piet6 et par sa probit€ 
I'example des Christiens et I'admiration des infidels." 
We visited the tower in May, 1878. 

The ancient halbert shown in the engraving is another 
relic of the old regime. It was found while excavating 
in one of the old suburbs, and may have done doughty 
service against the Indian assailants of the mission for- 
tress. 



FRONTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 155 



CHAPTER Xn. 

FEONTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 

Frontenac Ee-appointed Governor, 1689 — Abenaqnis Eavages — French Inva- 
sion of New England — Massacres of Corlaer, Salmon Falls, and Casco Bay, 
1690 — First American Congress at New York — Sir Wm. Phips Captnres 
Port Eoyal — Is Eepulsed at Quebec — Iroquois Eavages — Bounty on Scalps 

— Frontenac Burns Iroquois Towns — St. Castine — Fall of Fort Pemaquid 

— Col. Church Attacks Villebon on the St. John — Is Eepulsed — D'Iberville 
in Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay — Treaty of Eyswick Eestores Eespective 
Possessions of France and England, 1697 — Death of Frontenac, in Ms Sev- 
enty-eighth Year, 1698. 

THE veteran soldier, now near seventy years of age, was 
hailed as the deliverer of Canada. His faults were for- 
gotten or forgiven, and his chivalric valour was remembered as 
the bulwark of the country. He arrived at a critical period. 
The peril of the colony was increased by the declaration of war 
between France and England, in consequence of the Eevolution 
of 1688, whereby James H. was driven from his throne by his 
son-in-law, "William IH., Prince of Orange. The Governor 
had brought with him the chiefs so treacherously captured by 
Denonville ; and having won their good-will during the voyage, 
he sent them to their tribes, to conciliate, if possible, their 
favour. 

M. de Callieres, the Governor of Montreal, had already 
urged an attack upon the English colonists, whom he accused, 
and not without reason, of inciting the Iroquois to war. He 
proposed making an attack, with a strong body of troops, by 
way of the Eichelieu and Lake Champlain, on Albany, a town 
of about two hundred and fifty houses, which was defended only 
by an earthen fort with wooden palisades, and garrisoned by a 
hundred and fifty soldiers. He further designed, after reducing 
Albany, to descend the Hudson and attack New York. This 
was then an open town of some two hundred houses, defended 
by about four hundred men, which, it was thought, would sue- 



156 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 



Climb to a sudden assault. The British possessions in Hud- 
son's Bay were also to be simultaneously attacked. 

This plausible, but perilous enterprise, however, was set 
aside in favour of a naval attack on New York. Two large 
war-ships, with several smaller vessels, were equipped and 
placed under the command of M. de la Caffiniere, Avho was to 
blockade the harbour and bombard the town. But naval de- 
lays, boisterous weather, and then dense fogs, frustrated the 
design, and caused its abandonment. 

The Abenaquis Indians, on the Maine frontier, were the 
allies of the French, and among them were several Jesuit mis- 
sions. In retaliation for the massacre of Lachine, they at- 
tacked the New England fort at Pemaquid, on the seacoast, 
between the Penobscot and the Kennebec, and other frontier 
posts. All the horrors of Lachine were renewed. Some two 
hundred persons are said to have been slaughtered. The blow 
struck terror to the heart of every New England frontier vil- 







^<S!SSlai»»5iKS«£2 






OLD FRONTIEU BLOCK -HOUSE. 



lage. The inhabitants were compelled to take refuge in strong 
block-houses, such as shown in the engraving, around which 
deadly fights were often waged. 



FRONTENAC'S SECOND ADJitlNISTRATIOX. 157 

111 mitlwiiiter, Fronteiiac organized three expeditions to rav- 
age, with fire and sword, the British colonies. Earlj in Feb- 
ruary, two hundred men, half French and half Indians, leoo. 
under the command of Lieutenants Mantel and Sainte Hclene, 
left Montreal. For two-and-twenty days, they traversed the 
wintry, snow-encimabered woods, crossing morasses aaid swollen 
streams, till they reached the vicinity of Albany. Deterred 
from attacking that place in their exhausted condition, they 
turned aside to the neighbouring village of Corlaer, now Schen- 
ectady, containing some eighty wooden houses. At midnight, 
in a bitter storm, the brigands entered stealthily the little ham- 
let, sleeping in fancied security, with open and unguarded 
gates. Each house was invested by grisly figures, bearing 
murder in their hearts, and muffled weapons in their hands. 
Commands were given in whispered tones, and the human 
hyenas awaited, in silence, the signal for slaughter. The wild 
war-whoop was raised, the terrible tomahawk gleamed in the 
lurid flames of the burning buildings, and in two hours, sixty 
men, women, and children were w^antonly butchered, their blood 
crimsoning the snowy ground. Twenty-eight were taken pris- 
oners, and every house was reduced to ashes. It was not war ; 
it was midnight murder. A few half-naked wretches escaped 
through the blinding snow-storm, to Albany. The French 
rapidly retreated, pursued by the English from Albany, and by 
a band of Mohawks, who cut off twenty-five of their number, and 
chased the way-worn survivors almost to the gates of Montreal. 

The second expedition was led by Lieutenant Hertel, who, 
when a boy, had been captured and tortured by the Iroquois. 
He now bitterly avenged his wrongs on their English allies. 
Setting out with fifty men from Three Kivers, after two months' 
wear}?^ march over a rugged countrj^, he fell on the little village 
of Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, and after a bloody en- 
gagement, gave it to the flames, burning houses, barns, and 
cattle in their stalls, and carried off fifty-four prisoners. The 
country was now roused, and two hundred men, thirsting for 
revenge, were in hot pursuit. Taking his post, sword in hand, 
at the bridge of Wooster Eiver, Hertel, with a valour worthy 



158 mSTORT OF CANADA. 

of a better cause, held the pursuers in check, and covered the 
retreat of his comrades. The sufferings of the captives were 
intense. They were compelled to carry through the wilderness 
the spoils of their own homes. One of them, rejecting his 
burden, was left by the Indians to perish over a slow fire. 
Mary Ferguson, a girl of fifteen years, bursting into tears 
through grief and fatigue, was scalped forthwith. Suckling 
infants were thrown into the river, or abandoned in the forest, 
that they might not embarrass the retreat. 

But although there might be no delay for mercy, there was 
for slaughter. "While returning, Hertel joined a third party 
from Quebec, in an attack on the British fort at Casco Bay. 
For three days the fort held out, till its palisades were fired, 
when a crowd of prisoners were handed over to the tender 
mercies of blood-thirsty savages. The works were razed to the 
ground, and every house burned for two leagues around. Four 
vessels, that were sent from Boston to relieve the fort, came in 
sight, only to behold the flag of the Bourbons waving upon its 
ruins. 

In retaliation for these attacks on their English allies, the 
Iroquois ravaged the Canadian frontier, burst from the forest 
on solitary outposts and lonely hamlets, shot down the peasant 
in his field, and destroyed the growing crops ; and then disap- 
peared as suddenly as they came. 

The record of these ruthless deeds is a dark and dreadful 
page in the annals of our country. Cruel wrongs were in- 
flicted on either side, often upon the helpless and the innocent, 
and a heritage of hatred was handed down from sire to son, that 
embittered for generations the ruthless conflicts of neighbour- 
ing Christian peoples, who rivalled in deeds of pitiless savagery 
their pagan allies. 

Eajyer to secure the alleg-iance of the Indian tribes of th 
Northwest, and to retain the fur trade, Frontenac dispatched a 
strong convoy of goods to Michillimackinac. The arrival at 
Quebec of three hundred western warriors, in one hundred and 
ten canoes, with one hundred thousand crowns' worth of furs, 
demonstrated the success of the movements 



FRONTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 159 

In the month of May, the British colonists, -who were now 
thoroughly aroused, sent deputies to a congress at New York, 
the first ever held in America, to concert a scheme for com- 
bined action against the French. 

In the struggle for very existence of the French power in 
America, the province of Acadia had been almost entirely 
neglected. The inhabitants devoted themselves chiefly to the 
fur trade and the cultivation of the rich marsh-lands on the 
Bay of Fundy, defended from the sea by dykes. The trading- 
posts were not unfrequently attacked and pillaged by maraud- 
ing pirates. The country was destined again to pass into the 
23ossession of the English. 

Sir William Phips, the agent of this transfer, is a sufficiently 
noteworthy character to detain our attention for a little. He was 
born of humble parents, on the banks of the Kennebec, and is said 
to have been one of twenty-six children, all of the same mother. 
Till he was eighteen years old he was employed in keeping 
sheep. He then came to Boston and learned the trade of ship- 
carpenter, and the rudiments of reading and writing. He con- 
ceived, at length, the project of recovering the treasure of a 
Spanish galleon, wrecked fifty years before, in the West Indian 
seas. Interesting others in his scheme, he procured a vessel 
for the purpose, but was for a long time unsuccessful. At 
length he succeeded in obtaining from the bottom of the sea 
gold, silver, and jewels to the amount of £300,000 sterling, 
his own share of which was £16,000. He also received, what 
he valued perhaps more, the honour of a baronetcy. 

In the spring of 1690, Sir William Phips was sent by the 
Colony of Massachusetts to reduce the Province of Acadia. 
With a force of seven hundred men, in eight small vessels, he 
appeared before Port Koyal, whose dilapidated fort was gar- 
risoned by only eighty men. Menneval, the Governor, stoutly 
demanded, and obtained, honourable terms of surrender. 
Phips, however, considering himself over-reached, found a 
pretext for breaking his word, plundered the merchants, pillaged 
the church, and carried the garrison prisoners to Boston. The 



IQQ HISTORY OF CANADA. 

other forts were speedily reduced, and the subjugation of 
Acadia completed. 

A combined attack, both naval and military, on Canada, had 
been devised by the New York Colonial Congress. Thirty- 
four trading and fishing vessels were collected, and provisioned 
for four months, and twenty-two hundred sailors and militia-men 
hired or jn-essed for the service. Colonel Winthrop of Con- 
necticut, with eight hundred militia-men, was to advance 
from Albany on Montreal. But an outbreak of small-pox in 
Winthrop's camp, on LalvC Champlain, which carried off, it is 
said, three hundred of his Indian allies, together with a defi- 
ciency of canoes and supplies, compelled his retreat to Albany. 
Captain Schuyler, with a hundred and fifty men, whites and 
Indians, pressed on to La Prairie, near Montreal. Falling on 
the settlement, he killed or captured twenty-five persons, sev- 
eral of whom were women, and then beat a hasty retreat. 

Frontenao had heard, at Montreal, of the menaced invasion. 
Grasping, himself, the tomahawk, and chanting the war-song, 
he animated his twelve hundred Indian allies to the conflict. 
He was- now startled at learning that an English fleet was care- 
fully sounding its way up the St. Lawrence. Hastening to 
Quebec, he mustered his forces, with the neighbouring seigneurs 
and their censitaires, and his Indian allies, to the number of 
three thousand men. . The ramparts had been greatly strength- 
ened, and stout barricades of beams and casks of earth were 
constructed at all the gates. Early in the morning of October 
5th, the snowy sails of Phips' fleet were seen by the anxious 
eyes upon the ramparts, slowly rounding the headland of Point 
Levi. The fleet had been delayed at Boston, awaiting expected 
assistance from England, which, however, never came. Hav- 
ing no pilot, Phips lost much time in ascending the St. Law- 
rence, and was detained three weeks by head-winds at Tadousac. 
Instead of finding any .disposition among the Inhabitants to ac- 
cept British rule, he encountered, wherever he attempted to 
land, the most spirited opposition. 

I The day after he reached Quebec, Phips sent an officer with 
a peremptory summona for its surrender, in the name of their 



FRONTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. IQ\ 

i 

majesties, William and Mary, King and Queen of England. 
The messenger was blindfolded, and conducted by a round- 
about way, over barricades, amid the hubbub of warlike prep- 
aration, the hustling of a noisy crowd, and the laughter of 
women, who called him Colin Maillard, — the name of the chief 
player in blind-man's-buff, — to the council chamber in the 
Chateau of St. Louis. When the bandage was removed, the 
envoy beheld a brilliant assembly of ofBcers, bedecked with 
gold and silver lace, and all the "martial foppery" of the 
period. Presenting his summons, he laid his watch upon the 
table and demanded an answer in an hour. 

"I will not keep you waiting so long," said the haughty 
Frontenac. "Tell your general that I acknowledge no King 
of England but King James. The Prince of Orange, who 
calls himself such, is a usurper. I will answer your general 
by the mouth of my cannon," and the discomfited envoy was 
led back the way he came. 

Phips determined to land his troops at Beauport, ford the 
St. Charles at low water, and get to the rear of the town, 
while his fleet bombarded the front. But that night, Callieres 
arrived from Montreal with strong re-enforcements, who sang 
and shouted defiantly as they filed into the besieged fortress. 
The next day was stormy, but the day after, Major Walley, 
with thirteen hundred New England militia-men landed, through 
mud and water, in the face of a galling fire, at Beauport. The 
ground was boggy and miry, which made the work of dragging 
their cannon one of extreme difficulty. 

Meanwhile, Phips opened a furious fire on the town, which 
he kept up for two days, but his guns were of light weight 
and ill-served, and did little damage. The French, on the con- 
trary, replied with such effect, that the larger vessels of the 
fleet were badly cut up, and rendered almost unmanageable. 
Walley's men suffered intensely from rain and frost, hunger and 
exposure, and many sickened of small-pox. Struggling in the 
marshes of the St. Charles, and galled by the fire of the French 
and Indian sharp-shooters, concealed behind coverts and breast- 
works, they were repulsed with loss. They hastily embarked 
21 



162 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

at night, amid a violent storm, leaving five of their cannon 
behind. 

Phi]3s now felt that his two thousand raw fishermen and 
farmers, and his shattered fleet, were unable to reduce the 
almost impregnable fortress of Quebec, — one of the strongest 
natural positions in the world, — garrisoned by three thousand 
men, and commanded by a sldlled and veteran soldier. Drop- 
ping down the river, behind the Island of Orleans, he refitted 
his damaged vessels, himself working with the sailors at his 
old trade of ship-carpenter. Late in November, he reached 
Boston, crest-fallen and chagrined. Several vessels of his 
squadron were wrecked, and the ill-starred expedition proved a 
total failure.* 

The rejoicing of the French at this signal deliverance was 
very great. It was commemorated by a medal bearing the in- 
scription Feancia in Novo Orbe Victrix, Kebeoa Libeeata, 
A. D. MDCxc, and by the erection of a church dedicated to 
"Notre Dame de la Yictoire," still standing in the lower town. 

All along the extended Canadian border the cruel warfare 
raged. The entire population of New France was only eleven 
thousand. That of New England was at least ten times as 
many. The Iroquois, who kept both nations in terror, were 
less than seven thousand, about two thousand of whom were 
fighting men. The plucky Frenchmen continued to wage the 
unequal conflict. With their Abenaquis allies, they ravaged 
the New England frontier, and French corsairs swept the sea- 
board, and even cut out vessels in Boston harbour. The Eng- 
lish cut the dykes, flooded the land, and slaughtered the cattle 
of the French settlements of Acadia. With the aid of their 
Iroquois allies, they made another dash at Montreal, and the 
remorseless savages infested the French settlements along the 
Eichelieu, the St. Lawrence, and the Ottawa. 

A reign of terror and sorrow, of desolation and death pre- 

* Two years later, Sir William Phipa was made Governor of Massachusetts. 
His sailor habits, however, followed him, and he was recalled to England for 
assaulting, with his cane, the Collector of Customs of the port of Boston, and 
a Captain of the Eoyal Navy. Death ended his stormy career in 1693. 



FROXTENAC'S SECOXD ADMINISTRATION. 163 

vailed in Canada. '* No Frenchman shall have leave to cut a 
stick," threatened the revengeful Mohawks; *'they shall find 
no quiet even in their graves," — and to a fearful degree they 
made good their threats. Along the frontier every house was 
a fortress, and every household was an armed garrison. Many 
were the deeds of daring done by lone women in defence of 
their hearths and babes, and pitiful were the sufferings they 
endured. 

The wife of Thomas Drew, captured in the massacre of a 
New Hampshire village, "in midwinter, in the open air, dur- 
ing a storm of snow," gave birth to her first-born son, which 
was doomed to instant death by the Abenaquis savages. Han- 
nah Dustin of Haverhill, with her nurse and a boy, grimly 
avenged the murder of her week-old babe by the slaughter of 
ten out of twelve of her slumbering captors, and escaped to 
the British settlements. 

The footprints of civilization were marked with blood. The 
deadly ambush lurked on every side, and the death-dealing 
bullet from the mierring marksman lurking in the thicket, 
menaced the starving peasant if he attempted to sow or reap 
his scanty acres. The culture of the soil was impossible, and 
famine threatened the land. In both New England and New 
France, a lavish paper currency was issued, and crippled trade 
languished almost to extinction. Society was returning to a 
state of savagery. Christian men, despising the vast heritage 
of virgin soil with which the great All-Father had dowered 
His children, red or white, in their mutual jealousy and hatred 
and unhallowed greed for gain, hounded their savage allies at 
each others' throats, and — crowning atrocity of shame ! — a tariff 
of prizes was offered for human scalps ; from ten to twenty louis 
by the French, from ten to fifty louis by the English. Amid 
such horrors were the foundations of the Canadian nationality 
laid. 

The British government resolved on striking another blow at the 
colonial possessions of the French. A secret naval expe- less. 
dition was fitted out in the British dockyards for the capture of 
Martinique, and a subsequent attack on Quebec. It sailed for 



164 ISTORT OF CANADA. 

the Antilles, but was repulsed at Martinique, with the loss of 
nine hundred men. Sailing for Boston, yellow fever broke out 
in the fleet, causing a frightful mortality, — two-thirds, say the 
records, of the five thousand on board died of that disease. 
The attack on Quebec, which, in the meantime, had been greatly 
strengthened,* was therefore abandoned. During this year, 
French privateers captured three hundred British vessels, and 
the latter only sixty-nine of their enemy's. 

To put an end to this reign of terror, Frontenac resolved on 

1695. a supreme efibrt. He despatched a force of six hundred 
men to Cataraqui, where, despite the protest of the English 
Governor of New York, he rebuilt the fort abandoned by Den- 
onville, in order to curb and menace the Iroquois. These sav- 
ages retaliated by another attack, in force, on Montreal, but the 
inhabitants, being forewarned of their approach, gave them 
such a warm reception, that they retreated to their forest fast- 
nesses to nourish their wrath for a future day of vengeance. 

The following year, in the month of July, the veteran Fron- 

1696. tenac organized an expedition of eight hundred white 
men, and as many Indians, for the punishment of the Iroquois. 
Overcoming the rapids of the St. Lawrence, and crossing Lake 
Ontario, in a fleet of batteaux and canoes, they sailed up the 
Oswego Eiver. Arriving at night-fall at a cataract, hundreds 
of torches were lighted, casting their lurid glare on the flash- 
ing waters, the waving foliage, the bronze figures of the In- 
dians, and the various uniforms of the French. Plunging into 

■the rapids, the savage and civilized warriors dragged and 
forced the batteaux beyond the obstruction, to the placid stream 
above. Hanging from a tree they found two bundles of reeds, 
indicating that fourteen hundred and thirty-four warriors, — 
such was the number of the reeds, — bade them defiance. 
The gallant commander, now in his seventy-sixth year, his 
hair white with age, but his eyes flashing with martial fire, 
was borne on a litter in the midst. As the invaders ap- 
proached the fortified town of the Onondagas, the savages, 

* In 1854, in an old redoubt, at Quebec, a brass plate was found with a Latin 
inscription, commemorating ita construction by Frontenac, in 1693. 



FRONTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 165 

having fired the combuslible wigwams, fled to the forest, leav- 
ing the smoking brands the profitless booty of the conqueror. 
To his lasting disgrace, Frontenac permitted the torture of a 
forest stoic of nearly a hundred years, from whom no sufferings 
could extort a single groan. The Oneidas were also subdued, 
and, their stores of grain being destroyed, were abandoned to 
the wasting of famine and pestilence. The western cantons, 
however, continued unsubjugated, and bitterly avenged their 
allies by the murder of many a Frenchman. 

During these stormy years, M. DTberville, a native of Mon- 
treal, who had risen to a captaincy in the French navy, was 
maintaining the supremac}'' of the French arms. In 1685, 
with MM. Troyes and Ste. Helene, and eighty Canadians, he 
had traversed oh snow-shoes, six hundred miles of mountain, 
marsh, and forest to Hudson's Bay, and with many brave but 
bloody exploits, had captured the British trading-posts on that 
frozen sea. 

Shortly after the capture of Port Royal by Phips, the garri- 
son established there by the government of Massachusetts was 
withdrawn, and Acadia passed again into the possession of the 
French. M. Villebon, the newly appointed Governor at Port 
Eoyal, being greatly exposed to the attacks of New England 
privateers, removed his headquarters to the River St. John, 
some distance above its mouth, at its junction with the Nashwaak. 
Here he had a strongly palisaded fort, and not the least im-* 
portant part of his garrison was a number of powerful and 
well-trained watch-dogs, whose deep bay gave the alarm on the 
approach of danger. Indian runners kept up communication 
with Quebec, and gave intelligence of the movement of Eng- 
lish ships in the Bay of Fundy. Phips had destroyed the fort 
at the mouth of the St. John, but French privateers, which 
swept the New England coast, continued to bring their prizes 
into the river, and place their prisoners and spoils in Villebon's 
fort. 

In 1692, Sir William Phips had built at Pemaquid, at the 
cost of a hundred thousand dollars, — an immense sum for those 
days, — for the protection of New England against the French, 



166 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

a strong stone fort. It was of quadrangular sliape, witli four 
flanking towers. It mounted eighteeu cannon, and was garri- 
soned by sixty men. The French regarded it as a menace, and 
determined on its destruction. Two frigates and a land force 
were to co-operate in the enterprise, but it was found to be 
defended by an English man-of-war, and to be too strong to be 
successfully attacked. 

It remained for Yillebon and DTberville to accomplish the 
1697. task of its reduction. They left the St. John in two 
frigates, with a body of soldiers and siege-material. At Pen- 
obscot Bay, they were joined by the Baron St. Castine, with a 
force of two hundred Indians. The story of St. Castine is one 
of romantic interest. He was born at Beam, in the Pyrenees, 
the heir of a noble house, and came to Canada as an officer of 
the Carignan regiment, in 1665. He had settled among the 
Abenaquis, and married the daughter of Madockawando, the 
great sagamore, or head chief of these tribes. He acquired a 
remarkable ascendancy among the savages, and kept a sort of 
semi-feudal state at his seigneury of Castine, at the mouth of 
the Penobscot. He gave liberal presents to his Indian followers, 
and received rich furs of triple their value in return. In this 
way, he accumulated a fortune of three hundred thousand 
crowns. He had several daughters, who were all well married 
to Frenchmen, and received handsome dowries. 

Captain Chubb, a man peculiarily obnoxious to the Indians, 
on account of complicity in the murder of two of their chiefs, 
was in command at Fort Pemaquid, with a garrison of nearly a 
hundred men. When summoned to surrender, he returned a 
spirited defiance. D'Iberville's cannon and mortars were soon 
in position, and the explosion of the shells within the quad- 
rangle of the fort, filled the hearts of the little garrison with 
terror. St. Castine, who was a humane man, conveyed a 
message to Chubb that, if the works were carried by assault, 
he would not be able to restrain the Indians from the massacre 
of the English. The white flag was soon raised, and the place 
surrendered, but the guaranteed protection of St. Castine was 
only partially enjoyed, — several lives being lost by acts of 



FRONTENACS SECOND ADMINISTRATION. jgj 

savage violence. The walls and towers of the fort were levelled 
to the ground, and the French sailed away, D'Iberville's frigate 
narrowly escajDing capture by an English fleet sent to relieve 
the fort. 

In prompt retaliation for the loss of Fort Pemaquid, Colonel 
Church, with five hundred men in a flotilla of whale-boats, 
ravaged the shores of the Bay of Fundy, as far as Beau-bassin, 
cutting the dykes and burning the houses. 

Church, on his return, was met by three vessels from Boston, 
on their way to attack Villebon, at his fort on the' St. John, and 
was ordered to join the expedition. Carefully sounding their 
way up the river, they approached at last the forest fortress. 
The watch-dogs bayed, the alarm-gun was fired, and Villebon's 
Indian scouts kept up a ceaseless fusilade. The English threw 
up a battery of three cannon landed from the vessels, and 
opened fii'e on the fort. In two days the guns were dismounted, 
five-and-twenty men were slain by the fire of the French, and 
the rest of the assailants were sufi'ering severely from camping 
without shelter in the chill October air. The English aban- 
doned the attack, and retreated crestfallen to Massachusetts. 

The following winter was one of intense severity, and many 
Indians, French, and English perished of cold and hunger. 
The atrocities of man were added to the inclemencies of nature ; 
and in many a lonely hamlet, the shuddering ear of night was 
pierced by the deadly yell of the savage war-whoop. Along 
the frontier no man could leave his house without the risk of 
being shot and scalped. One Indian warrior boasted that he 
had killed or captured one hundred and fifty men, women, and 
children. 

On the reduction of Fort Pemaquid, D'Iberville sailed to 
Quebec for re-enforcements, and thence proceeded to pillage 
the British settlements of Newfoundland. Brouillan, the Gov- 
ernor of the French settlement of Placentia, with nine priva- 
teers, chased an English man-of-war into the Bay of Bulls. The 
British captain place(i all his cannon on his exposed broadside, 
and fought till his ship was wrapped in flames. The French 
captured thirty English vessels, and sacked several minor posts. 



168 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Being joined by D'lberville, they attacked the town of St. John 
by land and sea. After a stout resistance, the town surren- 
dered, and was burned to ashes, and its inhabitants shipped to 
England, or to Bonavista. In midwinter, D'Iberville, with one 
hundred and twenty Canadians on snow-shoes, ravaged the 
British settlements, killing or capturing the inhabitants, and 
burning their houses. 

A British fur-trading company had planted several strong- 
bastioned forts in Hudson's Bay, and sent thither annual ships 
to collect the valuable stores of furs. In successive years, 
D'Iberville attacked and captured several of these forts, which 
were afterwards re-captured by the British. He also brought 
several British prizes to Quebec. He now, in 1697, under- 
took the reduction of the entire region surrounding Hudson's 
Bay. One of his vessels got crushed in the ice, the others be- 
came separated, and he reached Fort Nelson with a single 
vessel of fifty guns. He boldly attacked three British ships, 
mounting one hundred and twenty-four guns, and sent one to 
the bottom with all sail set, with the loss of every man on 
board. He shortly after reduced the fort, and conquered the 
whole territory for France. Thus the icebergs and rocky shores 
of this wild northern sea echoed with the international strife 
which was deluging the plains of Europe with blood, and carry- 
ing terror to every hamlet in New England and New France. 

The treaty of Eyswick, signed Sept. 20, 1697, put an end to 
the war in the Old World and the New, and restored to France 
and England the respective possessions held at its outbreak. 
The bloodshed and pillage, the wretchedness and ruin of eight 
long years, counted for nothing; and the irrepressible conflict 
for the possession of a continent, had to be fought over again 
and again. 

Frontenac soon after died, at Quebec, in the seventy-eighth 
1698. year of his age. He was respected or admired by his 
friends, for his energy and daring of character ; and feared or hated 
by his enemies, — and he had many, — for his stern and haughty 
manners, and cruel temper in war. His lot was cast in 
troublous times, and he had at least the merit of preserving to 



♦ FRONTENAC'S SECOND ADMINISTRATION. 169 

France, the colony which he had found on the very verge of 

ruin. 

On the declaration of peace, D'Iberville, the hero of Hud- 
son's Bay, obtained a commission to colonize Louisiana. Ex- 
ploring, planting, building from 1699 to 1702 in the hot, un- 
wholesome bayous and lagoons of the Gulf coast, he founded 
Boloxi and Mobile. Smitten with yellow fever, he returned to 
France. Scarce convalescent, he captured from the British, 
Nevis, one of their West India possessions, and died of a 
second attack of yellow fever, in 1706, aged forty-four. Thus 
passed away one of the restless spirits of a stormy age, whose 
deeds of valour were unhappily also deeds of blood. 

22 



170 - HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTEE Xm. 

"QUEEN ANNE'S WAE." 

De Calliferes Succeeds Frontenac — Treaty with the Iroquois, 1700 — Detroit 
Founded — War of the Spanish Succession, 1702 — Vaudreuil, Viceroy — 
The Abenaquis Eavage New England — Massacres of Deerfield and Haver- 
hill — Tragic Scenes — Port Eoyal Captured, Ee-named Annapolis, 1710 — 
Sir Hovenden Walker's Disastrous Attempt against Quebec, 1711 — The 
Treaty of Utrecht gives England Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson's Bay, 
1713 — Internal Development — Fur Trade — Manufactures — Law Eeforms 
— Charlevoix Visits Canada, 1720 — Father Easles at Norridgewock — His 
Cruel Murder — The Abenaquis Burn Brunswick — Death of Vaudreuil — 
Forts Oswego and Frederic Planted — Explorations of the V6rendryes, iu 
the Northwest. 

THE Chevalier de Callieres, who had been for some time the 
commandant of Montreal, was appointed successor of 
1699. Frontenac. One of his first acts was the conclusion of 
a peace between the Iroquois and the French. Governor Bella- 
mont of New York, in arranging the exchange of prisoners 
after the war, had endeavoured to procure the recognition of 
the confederate Five Nations as the subjects of Great Britain ; 
but the senators of this forest republic, strongly asserted their 
independence, and negotiated a separate treaty with the French. 
In retaliation, and to restrain the influence of the Jesuits among 
the Iroquois, the legislature of New York passed an odious 
decree, which declared that every " Popish priest," entering the 
cantons of the confederate tribes, should be hanged. In vindi- 
cation of this Draconic law, it was alleged, and not without 
reason, that the Jesuits stirred up the innate ferocity of the 
savages to the slaughter of the English.* 

* It was even asserted that the mysteries of the Gospel of peace, were made 
the means of inculcating the duty of massacre and revenge. " The Indians are 
taught," said Bomaseen, an Abenaquis sachem, to Williamson, the English 
clergyman, at Boston, " that the Virgin Mary was a French lady ; that her son, 
Jesus Christ, was murdered by the English ; that he was risen from the dead, 
and gone to heaven ; and that all who would gain his favour must avenge 
his blood." 



QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 171 

The Iroquois, in 1700, sent envoys to Canada "to mourn 
over the French killed in the war," and to bury the hatchet for- 
ever. This treaty was ratified the following year before the 
walls of Montreal, with feudal pageantry, amid the chanting of 
the Te Deum^ and salvos of artillery, in an assembly of thirteen 
hundred plumed and painted savages, gathered from the wide 
region drained by the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. The 
forest plenipotentiaries exchanged belts of wampum, and 
smoked the pipe of peace with the civic and military dignitaries 
of New France, and signed their respective totems, — the 
beaver, deer, or hare, — to the treaty, which, for several years, 
they faithfully kept. The beauty and fashion of the frontier 
court lent the charm of their presence to the scene, and to the 
subsequent feast. The veteran and perfidious Indian states- 
man, Le Eat, after an eloquent oration, fell fainting to the 
ground. He died the next day, and was buried with much 
military pomp in the parish church. 

To maintain their grasp of the great West, the French sent 
M. de Cadillac, with a hundred men, to build a fort at Detroit, 
the key of the upper lakes. The wise choice of position is 
vindicated to-day by the stately " City of the Straits," which 
occupies the site of the rude fortress of 1702. Having, for 
four years and a half, administered the affairs of the colony 
with great prudence; De Callieres died in 1703, and was suc- 
ceeded by the Marquis de Vaudreuil, commandant of Montreal. 
During this year, that malignant scourge, the small-pox, again 
ravaged the country, and carried off, it is afiSrmed, one-fourth 
of the population of Quebec. 

The war of the Spanish Succession had now broken out be- 
tween England and her continental allies, and France and Spain 
(May 15, 1702), and all Europe and America were again in- 
volved in a bloody strife for the maintenance of a visionary 
balance of power. By the victories of Eamilies, Oudenarde, 
and Malplaquet, Marlborough and Eugene won name and 
fame, and the power of France was broken at the cost of a 
sea of blood. Again the "dogs of war" slipped their leash 
amid the forests of the New "World, and on its virgin soil the 



172 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

atrocities of human slaughter were repeated with aggravated 
horrors. 

The English had endeavoured to secure the neutrality of their 
1703. ferocious neighbours, the Abenaquis. A congress of 
chiefs met the Governor of Massachusetts at Casco, to ratify a 
treaty of peace. " The sun," they solemnly declared, " is not 
more distant from the earth than our thoughts from war " • and 
belts of wampum were given as the pledge of fidelity. Yet, 
within six weeks, on one and the same day, they burst upon 
every hamlet, lonely farmstead, or forest fastness, from the 
Kennebec to the Piscataqua, sparing neither hoary age, nor 
childing mother, nor tender infancy. Like human hyenas, 
they lay in wait for their prey, thirsting for blood, and, after 
the savage spring, skulked off into the forest with the victims 
who were not slain upon the spot. Blood-stained and smoul- 
dering embers were all that marked the site of many a happy 
home. Death hovered upon the frontier. Within many a 
village palisade, such as is shown in the engraving, the sentinel 
watched the live-long night away. Every house was a fortress. 
No mother lulled her babe to rest but knew that before morn- 
ins:, the roof-tree above her head mifrht be in flames, or her 
infant's life dashed out by the blow of a tomahawk ; and often, 
in shuddering dreams, the terrible war-whoop rang like a death- 
peal in her tingling ears. No man might go abroad in safety. 
As he held the pjough, or reaped the scanty harvest, the bullet 
of a lurking foe, perchance, would whistle through the air, and 
the scalpless body would be left lying on the ground. Even 
littlo children, gathering flowers, and mothers going to the 
well, or cooking the midday meal by their own hearth-stone, 
were startled by the apparition of a dusky form, the glare of 
fiendish eyes, the gleam of a glittering kinfe, and were slain on 
the spot, or dragged off prisoners, to a doom still worse than 
death. 

And Christian men surpassed, in these deeds of slaughter, 
the cruel pagan of the woods. In the midwinter of 1703- 
1704, Hertel de Rouville, with two hundred French and one 
hundred and fifty Indians, marched two hundred miles on snow- 



QUEEX AXXE'S WAIi. 



173 



shoes to the little town of Deerfield, in Massachusetts. They 
laid it in ashes, and of its inhabitants, forty-seven bedabbled 
with their blood the snow, and one hundred and twelve were 




dragged, with inhuman torture, through the wintry woods, to 
Canada. Among the prisoners was Eunice Williams, the wife 
of the village pastor. As the dreary procession halted in the 
snow, she nerved her soul for suffering by reading the holy 



174 EISTOET OF Cjy.iDA. 

words of her Bible, vrith -wliicli she ■vroiild not part. TTeak 
from recent child-birth pangs, she soon faltered by the "vray. 
IVith a mother's dj'lng prayer, she committed her &ve captive 
children to the care of their Father in Heaven, when the blow 
of a tom:ihav.-k ended her life. " She rests in peace," said her 
stricken husband, " and in jov nnspeakable, and full of glory" ; 
more happy in this than those who stUl toiled through the 
wintry wilderness. Two men perished of cold and hunger. 
Did an infant's feeble wail disturb the savage warriors, or did a 
mother totter beneath her load, the babe was tossed into the 
snow, or the agonized mother was brained upon the spot. The 
child of Pastor TTiHianis was adopted by the Caughnawaga- In- 
dians, and became a proselyte to the Catholic faith. Xo money 
could procure her ransom. She married an Indian chief, and 
years after, clad in Indian dress, she visited her kin at Deer- 
field ; but not the fasting nor the prayers of the village congre- 
gation could win her back to the faith of her fathers. She re- 
turned to her wigwam ia the forest, and to the care of her 
dus^ bhl>es. 

In these border raids, the worst passions of human nature 
were let loose. Aimless butchery ravaged the frontier, unre- 
lieved, save by the heroism of brave men dying for their hearth- 
stones : and of even weak women avenging the murder of their 
mangled babes, or with unwearying mother-love escaping with 
their orphaned children through the trackless wilderness. 

Again, in 170S, De Eouville, not yet weary of slaughter, 
with a hundred picked Canadians, and a troop of savages, set 
cut from Montreal to ravage the Xew England villages. They 
ascended the St. Francis and penetrated the passes of the 
"White Mountains, traversing six hundred miles of tangled 
forest or rugged rocks, and reached the little town of Haver- 
hill, beside the placid Merrimac. At day-break they fell upon 
the sleeping hamlet. The tragedy of Deerfield was repeated. 
Before the dew was dry upon the grass, those happy homes were 
a heap of smouldering ruins, and the village green was sodden 
with the blood of the faithfril pastor and his wife, of brave men, 
and fair women, and mansled babes. The loud noise of the 



QUEEX Ayxrs ^^AR. 175 

fii'ing, and the smoke of tlie iDurning houses, aroused the 
country far and 'wide. Snatching from their support., aljove 
the fire-place, the gun and poTvder-horn, the sturdy farmers 
hasted to avenge or rescue their killed or captured neigh- 
bom-s. Though but a handful, they hung upon the rear of the 
flying foe, and many of the French returned from their himtin;r 
of human j^rey no more. The English mourned the dead, 
sought to ransom the living, and to avert the recm-rence of 
such wanton massacre. '•' I hold it my duty to-wards God and 
man," remonstrated honest Peter Schuyler of Albany, to the 
Marquis de Yaudreuil, the French Governor, ■'•'to prevent, if 
possible, these barbarous and heathen cruelties. My heart 
swells with indignation, when I behold a war between 
Giristian princes, degenerating into a savage and boundless 
butchery." 

The French had again made PortEoyal the capital of Acadia. 
The fort was re-built, and strengthened with earthwork bas- 
tions, faced with sods, — a very effective defence against cannon- 
balls. Bruillan, the Governor of Placentia, had succeeded 
Yillebon in command, but his choleric and despotic disposition 
jprovoked the jealousy and animosity of his subordinates. He 
commissioned privateers to prey upon the commerce of Xew 
England. Indeed, La Heve became little better than a nest of 
pirates, of astonishing audacity. They even dashed into Boston 
harbour, and cut out vessels lying at anchor. "With the goods 
thus plundered, they instigated the savages in their murderous 
raids upon the English, settlements. 

In retaliation, Colonel Giurch resumed his old work of de- 
struction. With fifteen transports and thirty whale- ito4. 
boats, filled with armed men, he ravaged the shores of the Bay 
of Fundy, breaking the dykes, kilHng the cattle, burning the 
houses, and plimdering the inhabitants. Three years later, a 
fleet of five-and-twenty vessels, conveying a force of nearly 
two thousand- Kew Englanders, appeared before Port Eoyal. 
The garrison, re-enforced by St. Castine with sixty Indians, 
strengthened the works under the fire of the enemy, and offered 
such a spirited resistance that, after an unsticcessful assault, on 



176 ' HISTORY OF CANADA.' 

the sixth day, the attacking force sailed away completely 
baffled. A second attack, the same year, fared no better. The 
following year, the British were almost entirely driven out 
of Newfoundland, — their sole remaining possession being Car- 
bonear. 

The New England colonists now determined on the conquest 

1709. of Canada, and appealed for help to the mother country. 
A fleet and army, it was arranged, were to be sent from Eng- 
land for the reduction of Quebec, while a colonial force was to 
co-operate by land. Colonel Nicholson, with a force of two 
thousand men, advanced, by way of Albany, to Lake Cham- 
plain. The Iroquois had promised to make war against the 
French, but failed to keep their engagement, unwilling that the 
English should gain a dangerous preponderance. A serious 
epidemic broke out in Nicholson's camp, caused, it was thought, 
by the treacherous Iroquois poisoning the stream that supplied 
the army, by throwing into it raw hides. He learned, also, 
that the English fleet and army, instead of co-operating with 
the movement, had been despatched to Lisbon to aid the Portu- 
guese against Spain. He therefore burned his block-houses, 
and, with sadly diminished numbers, made a hasty retreat to 
Albany. 

The following year, the long-delayed succours arrived, and 

1710. Queen Anne defrayed, from her private purse, the cost 
of equijDping four New England regiments. Too late to act 
against Canada, a fleet of fifty vessels, with three thousand five 
hundred colonial militia, under command of General Nicholson, 
sailed from Boston for the capture of Port Royal. After a 
vigorous resistance, M. Subercase, its commandant, obtained 
favourable terms of capitulation, and, with his famished gar- 
rison of one hundred and fifty-six men, marched out with the 
honours of war ; and ever since the red-cross flag has waved 
over the noble harbour, then named, in honour of the reigning 
sovereign, Annapolis. The inhabitants were conveyed to Ro- 
chelle. Colonel Vetch, with four hundred and fifty men, 
occupied the fort. Vaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, com- 
missioned the younger St. Castine, son of the old Baron, to 



QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 



177 



hold Acadia for the French, and if possible, to drive out the 
English. He carried on a harassing, petty war, cutting off 
detached parties, and even attacking the fort. 

General Mcholson again proceeded to England, to urge the 
conquest of Canada. The legislature of New York deputed 
Colonel Schuyler of Albany, to present the same request. He 
was accompanied by five Iroquois chiefs, who, dressed in a 
court costume, were presented in state to Queen Anne. Giving 
her belts of wampum, as pledges of their fidelity, they engaged 
that their tribesmen would grasp the hatchet and fight, on behalf 
of the English, for the conquest of Canada. 

The plan of the campaign was devised by the brilliant Boling- 
broke, who expressed " a paternal concern for its success"; 
but in the choice of leaders, he was hampered by court favour- 
itism aild back-stairs influence. The command of the military 
forces was given to General Sir John Hill, brother of Mrs. 
Masham, the confidante of the Queen. The naval command 
was assigned to Sir Hovenden Walker,— an utterly incompe- 
tent officer. 

On the 30th of July, the fleet, numbering over eighty ships 
of war and transports, with five of Marlborough's i7n. 
veteran regiments, and two regiments of colonial militia, sailed 
from Boston for the attack on Quebec. Four thousand militia 
and six hundred Iroquois, under General Nicholson, advanced 
simultaneously from Albany to Lake George. The colonies 
created a large issue of paper money to meet the expenses of 
the expedition. Behind the walls of Quebec, which mounted a 
hundred guns, five thousand French, chiefly militia, awaited the 
attack ; and at Chambly, three thousand men, under De Lon- 
gueuil, guarded Montreal. Walker sailed slowly up the St. 
Lawrence, intending to winter in the river, and wondering 
how he would protect his ships when it should be frozen to the 
bottom ; he thought he would place them in cradles on the shore ! 
On the 23d of August, the fleet was enveloped in a fog, and 
amid the darkness drifted upon the reefs of the Egg Islands. 
Before morning, eight of his vessels were shattered, and eight 
hundred drowned sailors and soldiers were strewn upon the 

23 



178 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

sliores, together with broken bales and boxes, ana fragments of 
the wrecks. 

Yet Sir Hovenden found compensations even in this disaster. 
" Had we arrived safe at Quebec," he wrote, "ten or twelve 
thousand men must have been left to perish of cold and hunger. 
By the loss of part, Providence has saved all the rest." He 
tranquilly abandoned the enterprise, subsequently so heroically 
achieved by Wolfe, against greater difficulties, and sailed for 
Great Britain. General Nicholson was compelled, by this dis- 
aster, to retreat from Lake George, and the beleaguered fortress 
had another respite from conquest. 

The following year, the infant settlement of Detroit, garri- 
1712. soned by only a score of men, was attacked by six 
hundred of the Fox tribe of Indians, instigated by the English. 
The Indian allies of the French, however, rallied for its de- 
fence, and the besiegers, taking refuge in an entrenched camp 
which they had constructed, were themselves besieged in turn. 
Deprived of water and of food, they were reduced to the 
utmost extremity, and were almost exterminated by their ruth- 
less foe. 

On the 13th of March, 1713, in the Dutch town of Utrecht, 
the treaty was signed which gave peace, not only to the war- 
worn nations of Europe, but also to the scattered colonists in 
the wilds of the New World. England obtained Acadia and 
Newfoundland, the two seaward bulwarks of the French, to- 
gether with the unexplored regions around Hudson's Bay, and 
the protectorate of the Iroquois nation. France, of all her 
vast colonial possessions, retained only Canada, Cape Breton, 
the small islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, and certain fish- 
ing rights on the shores of Newfoundland, together with the 
undefined territory of Louisiana. 

The peace between Great Britain and France continued for 
over thirty years, and gave an opportunity for the development 
of the natural resources of the colonies. Vaudreuil began 
forthwith, in anticipation of the final struggle, to strengthen 
the defences of New France, and to extend the chain of forest 
forts, connecting it with the Mississippi valley. A town was 



QUEEX ANNE'S WAR. I79 

begun at Louisburg, Cape Breton, now called Royal Island, 
wbicb became the home of many French refugees, from the 
ceded provinces of Acadia and Newfoundland ; and a fortress of 
immense strength was constructed as the seaward bulwark of 
the St. Lawrence, at the cost, when complete, of five millions 
of dollars. A system of defensive works was constructed at 
Quebec, and Montreal was surrounded by a stone wall. Re- 




j "TS'l TTJ ^ 

— ' I J. 



J® — 

"* «»■*•« 5JS1 






'"" ^J??^ * T' 



OLD CITY WALL, MONTREAL. 

mains of both of these are still visible. Fort Frontenac was 
strengthened, and, notwithstanding the remonstrance of Gov- 
ernor Burnet of New York, a new stone fort was erected at 
Niagara, controlling the navigation of Lake Erie. 

But the growth of peaceful industry was a surer means of 
promoting national prosperity. The fur trade, the chief in- 
dustry of the country, was relieved of some of its hampering 
restrictions, and an annual fair was established at Montreal. 
The English, however, drew off much of the trade to Albany 
and New York, offering for peltries three times the price given 
by the French. English goods, in consequence, were largely 
smuggled into the country. Ship-building was encouraged, 
and Quebec laid the foundation of her distinguished reputation 
for this industry. Iron was manufactured at St. Maurice, and 
salt at Kamouraska. The interdiction was removed from the 
manufacture of woollen and linen cloth. Besides furs , — timber, 
staves, tar, tobacco, flour, pease, and pork were exported in 
increasing quantities to France and the "West Indies. The 



180 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

cliief imports were manufactured goods, sugar, rum, and mo- 
lasses. A considerable trade, in one year amounting to lialf a 
million of francs, sprang up with China, in ginseng root, to 
which the Chinese attributed marvellous medicinal virtues. 
Tea was also introduced from that comitry. After the infusion 
was drunk, the leaves were eaten, in order that nothing might 
be lost. 

Judicial reforms were also introduced, tending to repress the 
litigious disposition of the people. A letter-post was estab- 
lished, the country was divided into eighty-two parishes, and 
roads were made between the settlements to supplement the 
water communication. The absence of a local legislature, and 
the lack of secular education, left the general population in a 
torpid intellectual condition. At the same time, the lack of 
capital prevented the growth of manufactures ; and the seign- 
eurial tenure of the land, and its minute subdivision, through 
inheritance, by diminishing the stimulus to effort, tended to 
perpetuate poverty, and prevented the growth of that intelli- 
gent industrial population, which became the strength of New 
England. The fascinations of the adventurous fur trade were 
also especially unfavorable to agricultural prosperity.- This 
trade, successive edicts in vain attempted to repress, for with 
it every family in the colony was in some way connected. The 
English colonists, on the contrary, devoted themselves almost 
exclusively to agriculture, conquering yearly a broad domain of 
forest, and extending the frontiers of civilization ; the fur trade 
was only a very subordinate industry. The coureur de bois 
liad no English counterpart, although he may have had a few 
English imitators. 

In 1720-1722, Pere Charlevoix, the learned and accom- 
plished Jesuit missionary, traversed Canada and Louisiana, and 
wrote a voluminous and valuable history of the country. 
Quebec had then a population of seven thousand. Its society, 
which was largely military, he describes as very agreeable, 
and much more brilliant than that of Boston. " The English," 
he said, '*knew better how to accumulate wealth, but the 
French had the more elegant manner of spending it." But 



QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 



181 



l)cneatli tliis gay exterior, tlie reflex of the salons of Fon- 
tainebleau, was concealed a general poverty. Montreal had 
about two thousand inhabitants, and the entire Province about 




PfeRE CHARLEVOIX. 

twenty-five thousand. Proceeding westward, he found the 
whole country a wilderness, whose solitude was relieved only 
by a few fortified stations, — Cataraqui, Niagara, and Detroit, — 
and a few missions or trading-posts, on the upper lakes and in 
the country of the Illinois, — a region now populous with life, 
and busy with active industries. 

With their increase of population, the New England Colonies 
extended their settlements along the Atlantic sea-coast, toward 
the St. Croix, and into the adjacent interior. The Abenaquis 
had long claimed this region as an ancestral possession, under 
the protectorate of the French. For more than a quarter of a 
century. Father Easles, a Jesuit priest, had maintained a mis- 
sion at Norridgewock, on the banks of the Kennebec. He had 
a well-cultured mind, and wrote Latin with classical purity. 



182 niSTORT OF CANADA. 

A rigorous ascetic, he used little food but pounded maize ; his 
only drink was water. With his own hands, he built his cabin, 
and erected a forest sanctuary of more than wonted magniii- 
cence, hewed his wood and tilled his garden. In order to at- 
tract the attention of his savage catechumens by an appeal to 
their senses, he exhausted his artistic skill, which was not 
small, in painting sacred pictures on the walls of his chapel, 
and carving an image of the Virgin. He trained, also, a choir 
of forty Indian neophytes, arrayed in cassock and surplice, to 
chant the hymns and assist in the daily religious service. 

To counteract the religions influence of Rasles, the English 
of Massachusetts sent a Puritan minister among the Abenaquis ; 
but the system of Calvin presented less attraction to the savage 
mind than that of Loyola. The English, by stratagem, seized 
several Abenaquis chiefs and held them as hostages, even after 
the payment of a stipulated ransom. The tribesmen of the 
captives demanded their release, and the evacuation of the 
Abenaquis territory, under threat of active reprisals. A 
border war, with all its inhuman atrocities, now broke out. 
The English seized the young Baron St. Castine, who, by 
descent, on his mother's side, was an Indian war-chief, and 
held also a commission as a French officer. They raised a 
formidable force of a thousand fighting men, and urged the 
Abenaquis to surrender Father Easles, who was especially 
obnoxious as the directing spirit of the tribe. The Indians 
were hunted like wolves ; and the mercenary revenge of private 
individuals, was stimulated by the bounty of a hundred pounds 
ofiered for each scalp.* 

The Abenaquis, in retaliation, burned the town of Bruns- 
wick, and overshadowed, with a cloud of terror, the entire 
frontier. Father Kasles clearly foresaw the inevitable result. 
He was urged to take refuge in Canada, but, although a price 
of a thousand pounds was placed upon his head, the brave 

* In February, 1725, John Lovewell, "with, forty men, surprised a camp of 
sleeping Indians. At one Yolley every one was slain. For their ten scalps, 
the victors received, in Boston, the suhstantial reward of £1,000 sterling. 
— Drakes Boole of the Indians, iii., 121. ' 



QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 183 

soul replied, "I count not my life dear unto myself, so that 
I may finish Tfith joy the ministry which I have received." ^ An 
ai-med expedition penetrated the Penobscot as far as the site of 
Bangor. Here was a stockaded fort, seventy yards by fifty, 
with a large chapel, and a score of well-built houses. The in- 
habitants had fled, and the whole was given to the flames. , 

In August, 1724, a force of two hundred English ascended 
the Kennebec, and, unperceived, reached the Norridgewock 
mission. A deadly volley, poured into the unai-med village, 
was the first announcement of the presence of the foe. Fifty 
warriors seized their arms, not to fight, but to protect the flight 
of their wives and children. Eighty were slain or drowned 
while seeking, beneath a shower of bullets, to swim the rapid 
stream. The chapel and houses were first pillaged and then 
bm-ned, and the invaders returned from then- work of blood. 
The surviving Indians, groping amid the ashes of their homes, 
found the scalped and mangled body of their beloved missionary, 
his skull and the bones of his legs broken, his mouth and eyes 
filled with mud. With tears and kisses, and bitter lamenta- 
tions, they washed his body and buried it beneath the altar, at 
which he had so often ministered. His countrymen regarded 
him as a blessed martyr ; the EngUsh considered him the incen- 
diary of a savage war. More than two hundi-ed years after his 
death, in 1833, a monument was erected to the memory of the 
murdered missionary, on the scene of his apostolic toil. It is 
a plain granite obeUsk, surmounted by an iron cross, as shown 
in the accompanying engi-aving. 

For three long years of horror and bloodshed, the hideous 
border war went on, when, by a treaty signed at Boston, the 
Indians east of the Kennebec owned the sovereignty of Great 

Britain. 

In 1725, after a skilful and prudent administration, for 
nearly a quarter of a century, of colonial affairs, Vaudreuil 
died, beloved and regretted by those over whom he ruled. 

The same year, another serious disaster happened to Canada. 
The ship "Le Chameau," of the royal navy, conveying M. 
Chazel, the neAvly appointed Intendant, together with the Gov- 



184 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



ernor of Three Rivers, and a company of military officers and 
ecclesiastics, was wrecked on the coast of Cape Breton, and 
not one of the passengers or crew escaped alive. For days 









RASLES' MONUMENT AT NGRRIDGEWGCK. 

afterwards, broken bales of merchandise, and drowned bodies, 
were strewn along the inhospitable shore. 

Yaudreuil was succeeded, as Governor of Canada, by the 
Marquis de Beauharnois, a natural son of Louis XIY. Gov- 
ernor Burnet of New York, a son of the distinguished Bishop 
of Sarum, jealous of the existence of Fort Niagara, established 
a fort, in defiance of the remonstrance of Beauharnois, at 
Oswego, in order to divert the Indian trade, by way of the 
Mohawk and Hudson, to New York. The French, in retalia- 
tion, greatly strengthened Fort Niagara, and shortly after built 
Fort Frederic, at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, near the 
1731. British frontier, — a position of great strategic impor- 
tance, commanding the "gate-way" of Canada, and destined 
to be the scene of many a bloody conflict. 

An Indian outbreak in Illinois was suppressed by an expedi- 
tion from Montreal, by way of the Ottawa and Nipissing,, — an 



QUEEN. ANNE' S^WAR. 185 

exhibition of vigour which increased tne authority of France 
among the western tribes. 

A long period of peace now ensued. The population of 
Canada slowly increased, and its internal development made 
considerable progress. The cultivation of the soil was, how- 
ever, greatly neglected for the seductive fur trade,* which pos- 
sessed for the adventurous voyageur and coureur de hois a 
strange fascination. Assuming the garb, these often assumed, 
also, the social habits of the red men, — living in their wigwams, 
marrying their daughters, and rearing a dusky brood of half- 
breeds, in whom the savage predominated over the civilized 
nature. 

The daring sjiirit of exploration was not yet extinct. As 
early as 1717, a trading-post and fort had been planted at the 
mouth of the Kamanistiquia, in Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, 
where Fort William was afterwards built. In 1731, M. Veren- 
drye, having formed a partnership with a company of Montreal 
merchants, for the purpose of trade in the great Northwest, set 
out, "udtk Pere Messager, a missionary priest, and a party of 
attendants, to take possession of those vast regions for the King 
of France, and with the object of ultimately reaching the Pacific 
Ocean overland. They proceeded by way of the Kamanistiquia 
and Kainy Lake and Eiver, and Lake of the Woods, — these 
latter names are but translations of those given by the original 
French explorer, — to Lake Winnipeg. They then ascended 
the Saskatchewan as far as the forks of that river. At the ° 
junction of the Assiniboine and Red rivers, where Fort Garry 
was afterwards erected, and at other important points, forti- 
fied posts were planted. In one of their expeditions, on an 
island in the Lake of the Woods, in 1736, a son of M. Veren- 
drye, with the Jesuit, Pere Auiieau, and twenty others were 
slain by a band of Sioux. In 1742, the explorers reached the 
upper waters of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, and on 

* The profits of the fur trade were enormous. It is stated, that iu 1754, at a 
"western post, beaver-skins were bought at four grains of pepper each ; and 
eight hundred francs were realized from selling a pound of Termilion, which 
was in. great request for war-paint. 
24 



186 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Jan. 1, 1743, the brothers Yerendrye, sons of the veteran 
pioneer, reached the foot of the Eocky Mountains. That giant 
barrier prevented their further progress, and not till sixty years 
after, 1805, did those daring travellers, Lewis and Clarke, pen- 
etrate its passes, and, descendhig the Columbia Eiver, reach 
the Pacific Ocean. 



LOVISBURG — DU QUESNE. 187 



CHAPTER XIV. 

LOUISBUEG — DU QUESNE. 

War of the Atistrian Succession, 1744— Pepperell's Conquest of Louisburg, 1745 
— The Disastrous Attempt of the French at its Recapture, 1746 — Death of 
D'Anville and D'Estournelle — The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle restores Louis- 
hurg to France, 1748 — France claims the Ohio Valley — Halifax Founded, 
1749 — The Acadian " Neutrals "— The Abb6 de Loutre- Blood Shed at 
Beau S^jour — Jouqui^re's Avarice and Bigot's Fraud — Fort Du Quesne 
Planted — Collision in the Ohio Valley, 1754 — The Death of Jumonville 
" kindles the World into a Flame." 

THE question of the Austrian succession now involved both 
Europe and America in the throes of war.* The emperor 
Charles VI., by ample cessions of territory to several princes, 
procured a general acknowledgment of the "Pragmatic Sanc- 
tion," whereby his daughter, Maria Theresa, was guaranteed 
the succession to the crown. Upon the death of the emperor, 
in 1740, Spain, Prussia, and Bavaria laid claim to a portion of 
the inheritance. Charles Albert, of Bavaria, was elected 
emperor, and the heroic and beautiful Maria Theresa placed 
herself and her infant son under the protection of her Hun- 
garian nobles, whose enthusiasm soon procured a re-action in 
her behalf. England, Sardinia, Austria, Holland, and Saxony 
declared in her behalf. France espoused the cause of Charles 
Albert, and proclaimed war against England. The i7«. 
Stuart Pretender deemed the moment opportune for raising a 
Scottish revolt. 

The conflict soon extended to America. Louisburg became 
a rendezvous for French privateers, which preyed upon the 
commerce of New England. Du Quesne, the Governor of 
Cape Breton, organized a strong force for the capture of the 
British settlements at Canso and Annapolis. The former was 
burned, and its garrison and settlers made prisoners of war. 
The latter offered a stout resistance, notwithstanding the dilapi- 
dated condition of its fortifications and the reduced state of its 



188 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



garrison, and completely baffled every effort of the French to 
reduce it, by stratagem or by assault. 

Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, now resolved to attempt 
the daring feat of the capture of Louisburg, which was a stand- 
ing menace to New England. He apj)ealed for help to Great 
Britain, and to the neighbouring colonies. In a few weeks, 
four thousand colonial militia were collected, and William Pep- 
perell, a merchant and militia colonel of Maine, who had been 

an active spirit in organizing 
the exjjedition, and who was 
afterwards knighted for its 
success, was appointed to its 
command. The celebrated 
r^^ George Whitefield, the elo- 
quent Methodist preacher, 
who was then in New Ens:- 
land, was asked to furnish a 
motto for the regimental flag, 
and gave the inscription, " Nil 
desperandum, Christo duce." 
Indeed, in the eyes of the 
more zealous Puritans, the 
expedition possessed quite 
the character of a crusade against the image-worship of the 
Catholic faith. 

On the 29th of April, 1745, a hundred vessels, large and 
small, among them ten large ships of the royal navy, carrying 
five hundred guns, under Commodore Warren, having been 
detained many days by the thick-ribbed ice off Canso, sailed 
into the capacious harbour of Louisburg. This was one of the 
strongest fortresses in the world. It was surrounded by a wall 
forty feet thick at the base, and from twenty to thirty feet high, 
and by a ditch eighty feet wide. It mounted nearly two hun- 
dred guns, and had a garrison of two thousand men. The 
assailants had only eighteen cannon and three mortars. With 
a rush and a cheer, they charged through the surf, and repulsed 
the French, who lined the steep and rugged shore. A detach- 




SIK WILLIAM PEPPERELL. 



LOUISBURG — DU QUESNE. 



189 




CAPTURE OF LOUISBTTRG, 1745. 



meiit of troops fired a number of warehouses filled with uaval 
stores — pitch, tar, and tur]3entmc. The dense smoke, driven 
by the wind, so stifled and terrified the garrison of a detached 
battery, that they spiked their guns, and 
fled into the main fortress. The battery 
was promptly seized, the touch-holes of the 
cannon drilled out, and a damajr- 
ing fire opened on the to 
During fourteen nights, — 
only time they dared attempt 
the task, — the English sail- 
ors dragged their 
siege guns and am- 
munition on sledges 
through a marsh, and 
thus gained the land- 
ward and weaker 
side of the fort. 

Trenches and parallels were opened and pushed within two 
hundred yards of the walls. Great breaches were made, which 
were as promptly repaired by the garrison. It was intended 
that the fleet should bombard the town, while the land force 
should attempt to enter it by assault. In the meantime, a 
French man-of-war, ' ' La Yigilante," of seventy-four guns, with 
five hundred and sixty men, was captured by the English fleet 
in sight of the beleagured town. Her rich freight of military 
stores was a great gain to the besiegers, and a great loss to the 
besieged, as they were much needed by both. This disaster, 
together with the erection of newbatteries by the British, and 
the preparations for a general assault, so disheartened Ducham- 
bon, the French commander, that on the 16th of June, after a 
gallant resistance for six weeks, he yielded to a summons to 
sun-ender, and the New England militia marched into the 
works. As they beheld their extent, they exclaimed, " God 
alone has delivered this stronghold into our hand," and a 
sermon of thanksgiving was preached in the French chapel. 

The garrison of two thousand veteran troops and militia, and 



190 HISTORY OF CAXADA. 

the inhabitants of the town, as many more, were conveyed to 
France. Two French East Indiamen, and a South American 
si3ice-ship, were decoyed into the harbour and captured, and 
their cargoes, worth one million jjounds, confiscated.. The 
weather, which, during the siege, had been fair, now became ' 
very stormy, and, but for the surrender, would have inevitably 
produced a great mortality, among the civilian soldiers, who 
were very imperfectly sheltered, and were quite unaccustomed 
to military service. The fall of the strongest fortress in the 
New World — the Dunkirk of America — before a little army 
of New England farmers and fishermen, caused the wildest 
delight at Boston, and the deepest chagrin at Versailles. Beau- 
harnois was recalled, and the Marquis de la Jonquiere was 
appointed Governor-General of Canada. 

Shirley and Pepperell now determined on attempting a still 
greater enterprise, — no less than the conquest of Canada — and 
sought the assistance of the mother country in the undertak- 
ing. But an imminent danger threatened New England itself. 
1746. A great fleet of fifteen ships of the line, twenty-four 
frigates, and thirty transports and fire-ships, with a military 
force of three thousand men, was assembled in the harbour of 
Kochelle, for the purpose of recapturing Louisburg and Anna- 
polis, ravaging the New England coast, and destroying the town 
of Boston. When the news of this formidable fleet reached 
New England, solemn services were held in the churches, to 
pray for deliverance from the danger. 

The French fleet was followed by disaster from the very out- 
set. It was scattered by storms, two ships were captured by 
the English, some were wrecked, others driven back to France, 
and it was three months before the Due D'Anville, the admiral 
of the fleet, with only two ships, reached the place of rendez- 
vous, Chebucto (now Halifax) harbour, to find only a solitary 
vessel awaiting him. His disappointment was intense, and, in 
a few days, he died suddenly, apparently from apoplexy, al- 
though it was whispered that he had taken poison. On the day 
of D'Anville's death, arrived Vice- Admiral D'Estournelle, with 
three ships. He urged the abandonment of the enterprise, as 



LOUISBURG — DU QUESXE. jgj^ 

most of the soldiers were on board tlie missing ships. This, 
Governor Jonquiere, who was on his way to Canada, opposed^ 
and a council of war decided on attacking Annapolis. D'Es- 
toumelle fell into a fever, attended with delirium, the result, it 
was thought, of mental excitement, and, falling upon his sword, 
he was found in his cabin, weltering in his blood. 

Other vessels of the fleet continued daily to arrive, but the 
long confinement on shipboard produced an epidemic of scurvy 
and dysentery among the soldiers and sailors, attended with 
frightful mortality. They were, therefore, put on shore to 
recruit, but, in a month, eleven hundred were buried. The 
infection spread also to the Indian allies of the French, the 
Micmacs, of Nova Scotia, one-third of which tribe are said to 
have perished. 

In the middle of October, the camp was broken up, and the 
fleet, now consisting of less than forty vessels, sailed for Anna- 
polis, to attempt the capture of that fort. It encountered, 
however, such a severe tempest off Cape Sable, that Jonquiere, 
now chief in command, ordered a return to Prance. This frus- 
tration of the threatened invasion by the power of the elements 
rather than by that of man, was the occasion in New England 
of devout thanksgiving for what was considered a signal inter- 
position of Providence. 

Undeterred by disaster, the French, the next year, fitted out 
two squadrons, one against the British East Indies, the other to 
recover Louisburg. Admirals Anson and "Warren, however, 
intercepted and defeated both off Cape Finisterre, capturing 
many vessels, five thousand men, and a great quantity of booty. 
Among the prisoners was Jonquiere, thus again prevented from 
assuming the government of Canada. The Count de la Galis- 
soniere was appointed acting Governor till Jonqui6re could be 
exchanged. In the autumn of the same year, a convoy of ten 
French men-of-war was encountered off Belle Isle by Sir 
Edward Hawke, with fourteen sail of the line and five smaller 
vessels. Six of the largest of the French ships were captured, 
but the merchant fleet escaped. 

For two years longer, a cruel border warfare continued to 



192 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

rage. Tlie Frencli and their Indian allies, in no less than 
twenty-seven successive raids, ravaged the New England fron- 
tier, and captured several fortified posts. From Boston to 
Albany, a wide region was abandoned by its inhabitants, flying 
from the tomahawk and torch of the midnight assassin and 
incendiary. 

At length, the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle put an end to hostil- 
1748. ities, and restored to each nation the possessions held 
before the war. To the intense chagi-in of the New England 
colonists, the fortress of Louisburg, conquered by their valour, 
was restored to France, in exchange for her East Indian con- 
quest of Madras. Great Britain reimbursed the expenses of 
the colonies, but the control of Louisburg by the French, 
made it again a standing menace to their commerce and their 
prosjDerity. 

The peace was only accepted by both nations as a breathing- 
spell to prepare for the coming struggle for the possession of 
the continent. The great want of Canada was population. 
This essential element of prosperity numbered only about sixty 
thousand, while that of the English colonies was twenty-fold 
greater, and their realized wealth was still more disproportion- 
ate. The French laid claim, on the plea of first discovery, to 
the vast interior of the continent, and sought to restrict the 
British to the Atlantic seaboard ; and Galissoniere, the acting 
Governor of Canada, a man of intrepid s]3ii'it though of de- 
formed person, urged the immigration of ten thousand French 
peasants to occupy the valley of the Ohio, and thus prevent the 
threatened intrusion of British settlements. The home-loving 
instincts of the Gallic race, however, were averse to coloniza- 
tion. The active Governor, therefore, took measures to form- 
ally assert the sovereignty of France over those vast regions. 
He despatched an officer with three hundred soldiers, to de- 
posit in the earth, at the foot of certain marked trees, at inter- 
vals along a line reaching from Detroit to the Alleghanies, 
leaden plates, on which were engraved the amiorial bearings of 
the King of France. He officially notified the Governor of 
Pennsylvania of this fact, and forbade the English traders to 



LOUISBURG — DU QUESNE. I93 

trespass on the territory thus claimed by the French, under 
pain of confiscation of their goods. He also projected and 
'^^partly established a chain of forts from Montreal to the Ohio 
and the Mississippi, — as at La Presentation (Ogdensburg), 
one of stone at Toronto, one at Detroit, and others further 
"west 

Nearly half a century had passed since the cession of Acadia to 
Great Britain by the peace of Utrecht, jQt not a step had been 
taken towards its settlement. Two small garrisons were main- 
tained at Annapolis and Canso, — this, and nothing more. An 
energetic movement was now made for the colonization 1749. 
of the country, under the auspices of the Board of Trade and 
Plantations, of which Lord Halifax was the President. The 
close of the late war set at liberty a large number of persons 
who had been engaged in military or semi-military occupations. 
Liberal inducements were offered intending settlers. A free 
passage, maintenance for a year, and gi'ants of land, varying 
from fifty to six hundred acres, according to rank, were guar- 
anteed. The Imperial Government voted the sum of £40,000 
to defray these exiDenses. In five years this was increased to 
the enormous sum of over £400,000. On account of its mag- 
nificent harbour, one of the finest in the world, Chebucto, or 
Halifax, as it was henceforth to be called, in honour of the 
chief projector of the entei-prise, was selected as the site of 
the new settlement. The Honourable Edward Cornwallis was 
appointed Governor, and the protection of British law and 
representative institutions was promised. 

In the month of July, 1749, Governor Cornwallis, in H. M. 
ship *' Sphynx," followed hj a fleet of thirteen transports, con- 
veying nearly three thousand settlers,— disbanded soldiers, re- 
tired officers, mechanics, labourers, and persons of various rank, 
— reached Chebucto Bay. A civil govei-nment was promptly 
organized, the first meeting of the Council being held on ship- 
board in the harbour. On a rising groimd, overlooking the 
noble bay, the woods were cleared and the streets of a town 
laid out. In busy emulation, the whole company was soon at 
work, and before winter three hundred log-houses were con- 



25 



194 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

structed, besides a fort, store-houses, and residence for the 
Governor, — the whole surrounded by a palisade. 

The Governor and Council took prompt measures to proclaim ' 
the sovereignty of Great Britain over the entire province. 
Deputies were summoned from the French settlements, and 
commanded to take the oath of allegiance to King George, as 
the condition of enjoying the protection of his government. 
The deputies wished to make the reservation, that they should 
not be compelled to bear arms against the King of France ; but 
the Governor insisted that the oath should be one of absolute 
and unconditional allegiance. 

These vigorous measures soon aroused the jealousy of the 
French in Canada, and led to serious acts of insubordination 
on the paii; of some of the old Acadian colonists. The Abbe 
de lioutre especially, a violent partisan of the French, abused 
his authority and influence as a priest to prevent liis country- 
men from submitting to the King of England. He is also 
accused of ha\dng instigated the ]\Iicmac Indians, and certain 
restless spirits among the Acadians, to attack the infant settle- 
ments of Halifax, Dartmouth, on the opposite side of the har- 
bour, and the new German settlement of Lunenburg. These 
marauders even attacked the English vessels in Chebucto Bay, 
and killed or wounded part of their crews. Over these, the 
Governor of Louisburg — to whom remonstrance was made 
on account of these outrages — disavowed any control, as the 
aggressors were living within British territory. General Corn- 
wallis, Governor of Halifax, was therefore obliged to reduce 
the marauders by force. They refused to take the oath of 
allegiance, and claimed a position of political neutrality. 

The Chevalier de la Corne, an impetuous officer, was de- 
spatched from Quebec with eleven hundred French and Indians 
to ofuard the ill-defined frontier. He built a fort at Beau 
Sdjour, commanding the isthmus which connects Nova Scotia 
with the main-land, on ground which he claimed as a portion of 
Canada, and made it a rendezvous for malcontent and refugee 
Acadians. Cornwallis sent Colonel Lawrence, vntli four hun- 
dred men, from Halifax to watch his movements. On his 



LOUISBURG — DU QUESNE. 195 

approach the Acadian «' neutrals," at the mstigation of then- 
priests, burned the settlement of Beaubassin, within 1750. 
the British territory, and retired to the protection of the 
French fort. Lawrence returned for re-enforcements, and 
later in the season landed, though stoutly opposed, and built a 
fort in close proximity to Beau Sejour, on the opposite side of 
the Messagouche, which was, for the time, accepted as the 
boundary line. This was the first blood shed between France 
and England after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 

La Jonquiere, liberated by the peace, had superseded Galis- 
soniere as Governor,* and timidly followed the policy of his 
predecessor. He was consumed by an ignoble avarice, and 
used every means to enrich himself at the expense of the 
colony; yet even in his last hours, he denied himself the com- 
forts of life. Fraud and peculation impoverished the people, 
who demanded his recall; but he died before the arrival of 
his successor, Du Quesne. Bigot, his Litendant, was, 1733. 
if possible, even more corrupt than the miserly Governor, and 
added the vices of licentiousness and extravagance to those of 
meanness and avarice. He mocked the misery of the people 
by his ostentatious profligacy, and aped the sensualism of the 
court of Louis XV. at his palace in Quebec, and at his chateau 
at Beauport. By his extortion and peculation as a civil admin- 
istrator, he had already won an evil reputation in Louisiana and 
Cape Breton, but was destined to reach the culmination of his 
infamy in Canada. 

Do Quesne, the new Governor, entered upon a vigorous 
aggressive policy. He organized and drilled the militia, gar- 
risoned the western forts, and established new posts at Presque 
Isle, on Lake Erie, and at Le Beuf and Venango, in the Ohio 
valley. Dinwiddle, the Governor of Virginia, sent, as 1753. 
an envoy, to warn the French from the occupation of territory 
claimed by the British, George Washington, then in his twenty- 
fii-st year. The youthful ambassador found the intruders 

* Galissoni&re returned to France, served on the Boundaries Commission, 
rejoined the navy, and, after defeating the unhappy Admiral Byng at Minorca, 
died in 1756. 



196 HISTORY OF C.iX.iDA. 

sti'ongly entrenched at Venango and Le Beuf. "lam here," 
said the French commandant, "by the orders of m}- general, 
to vrhich I shall conform "with exactness and resolution. He 
has instructed me to seize every Englishman in the Ohio vaUey, 
and I shall do it." 

Thi'ough wintry weather and jDathless woods, Washington 
returned over the moimtains to Yirginia. Twice on the route 
he nearly lost his life, once by the point-blank fire of a Im'king 
Indian, and once by the swollen and ice-bm'dened torrent of 
the Alleghany Eiver. 

The " Ohio Company," composed of London and Vu-ginia mer- 
its*, chants, now began a settlement and fort at the junction of 
the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers, where Pittsbm-g now 
stands. A strong force of French, under M. Contrecoeur, 
seized the fort, and having completed its defences, gave it the 
name of Du Quesne. Governor Dinwiddle had, meanwhile, 
despatched a force, under George "Washington, now a lieutenant- 
colonel, to hold the fort for the Enghsh. Contrecoeur sent M. 
Jumonville, with a small party of soldiers, to warn him off 
what was claimed as French territory. "Washington, aware of 
their approach, apprehending that theu' purpose was hostile, 
and eager to distinguish himself, surprised them, at break of 
day, encamped in a narrow valley. The French sprang to 
arms. " Fu-e I " cried Washington. " That word," says Ban- 
croft, "kindled the world into a flame." It precipitated the 
earth-shaking conflict on the plains of India, on the waters of 
the Mediterranean and the Spanish Main, on the Gold Coast of 
Africa, on the ramparts of Louisburg, on the heights of Quebec, 
and here in the valley of the Ohio, which led to the utter de- 
feat of the French, and the destruction of their sovereignty on 
this continent, and prepared the way for the independence of 
the United States. In the very beginning, as well as at the end, 
Washington was a prominent actor in the eventful drama, which 
became the epoch of a great nation. A sharp engagement of a 
few minutes ensued, in which Jumonville and ten Frenchmen 
fell, and twenty-one were captured. The French denounced 
the attack on Jumonville, while in the character of an envoy, as 



LOUISBURG — DU QUESNE. I97 

murder ; but there is no evidence that "Washington was aware 
of his commission. 

"Washington threw up entrenchments at Great Meadows, 
which he named Fort Necessity, and with four hundred men 
held his ground for a month. Attacked by a force of nine 
hundi-ed French and Indians, commanded by a brother of the 
slain Jumonville, and occupj-ing an untenable position between 
two hills, he capitulated, after ten hours' resistance, leaving the 
entire Ohio valley in the possession of the French. 



193 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 

Convention of Britisli Colonists at Albany — WiUiam Johnson — British Naval 
Victories — Braddock, Commander-in-Chief — His Arbitrary Character — 
His Defeat at the Monongahela — The Expedition against Fort Niagara a 
Failure — Johnson Defeats Dieskau at Lake George — Capture of Beau 
S^jour — The Acadian Neutrals — Micmac Outrages — The Tragedy of Grand 
Pr6 — Expulsion of the Acadians. 

IT was now felt that war was inevitable. A convention of 
deputies of the English colonies was forthwith held at 
Albany, to concert measures of defence. The astirte Franklin 

proposed a federal union, after the 
manner of the league of the Six 
Nations. * ' It would be a strange 
thing," said that philosophical poli- 
tician, *' if a community of ignorant 
savages should be capable of forming 
such a union, and maintaining it un- 
broken for ages, and yet, if a similar 
union should be impracticable for ten 
or a dozen English colonies, to whom 
it is more necessary, and must be 
more advantageous.'* The mutual 
jealousies of the different colonies, 
and of the mother country, however, 
prevented its consummation. It was only at a later day, and 
as the result of a fierce struggle, that the political organization 
was formed, which has had such an eventful and prosperous 
history during the last century. 

A prominent character in colonial history comes now into 
view. William Johnson, afterwards knighted for his services, 
was the younger son of an Irish gentleman of good family. 
Crossed in a love affair, he came to America in his nineteenth 
year, and assumed the charge of a large tract of laud in the 




FRANKLIN, 



CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 



199 







SIB VTT.T.IAM JOHNSON. 



province of New York, the property of his uucle, Admiral Sir 
Peter "Warren. He settled in the Mohawk valley, and lived in 
a sort of feudal state, alternately at Johnson 
Castle and Johnson Hall, two strongly forti- 
fied buildings, the latter of which is still 
standing. He carried on a prosperous trade 
with the Indians, and by his integrity of 
character gained a remarkable influence over 
them. This he increased by marrying, after 
the forest manner, Molly Brant, a sister of 
the celebrated Mohawk chief, Tyendenaga, or 
Joseph Brant, afterwards famous in border warfare. Johnson 
was adopted by the Mohawks as a member of their tribe, and 
chosen as one of their great sachems. The French endeavoured 
to detach the Iroquois from their allegiance to the English. 
For this purpose, they founded a mission and school at La 
Presentation, and acquired over them a remarkable influence. 
They purposed, also, to establish a mission at Lake Onondaga ; 
but Johnson purchased the lake and all the land for two miles 
around it, and continued, during the war, the bulwark of 
British authority upon the troubled frontier. 

The British ministry, on hearing of the collision in the Ohio 
valley, determined on a vigorous campaign, and de- 1735. 
spatched General Braddock, with two royal 
regiments, to assume supreme military com- 
mand in the colonies. The choice was an 
unfortunate one. Braddock was a brave sol- 
dier, but a martinet, — arrogant, perverse, 
obstinate. The Duke of Cumberland, the 
British commander-in-chief, estranged the 
sympathy of the colonists. "He had no 
confidence," he declared, " except in regular 
troops ; " and ordered that the generals and 
field-officers of the provincial forces, should 
have no rank when serving with officers bear- 
ing the royal commission. Colonel Washington, resenting 
this indignity, retired from the service, and his regiment was 




GENERAX, BRADDOCK. 



200 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

disbanded ; but even Braddock's perversity did not prevent 
him from perceiving the impolicy of this order, and several of 
the colonial officers received appointments on his staff. 

The French also strengthened their forces in Canada by 
sending out Baron Dieskau, an officer of distinction, who had 
served under Marshal Saxe, with several veteran battalions, 
numbering in all about three thousand men. Admiral Bos- 
cawen, with eleven ships of the line, intercepted a portion of 
the fleet bearing Dieskau's forces, off the Banks of Newfound- 
land. *' Are we at peace or war? " inquired the French com- 
mander. A broadside from the Englishman was the answer, 
and the French frigates, "Alcide" and *'Lys," soon struck 
their colours. Under cover of a fog, Dieskau, with the rest of 
his squadron escaped, ^nd safely reached Quebec. British 
privateers now swept the seas, and during the year, captured 
three hundred French vessels and eight thousand sailors. 

With the fleet that brought Dieskau and his soldiers, came 
also the new Governor of Canada, the Marquis de Yaudreuil- 
Cavagnac. He was a native of Quebec, being the son of the 
former Governor, De Yaudrueil, whose memory was cherished 
with respect, and for whose sake his son received a cordial 
welcome. The Marquis Du Quesne, preferring the French 
naval service, had already resigned the vice-royalty. 

The plan of the campaign of 1755, as devised by the British 
ministry, comprehended a simultaneous attack on the French, 
at Fort Du Quesne, in the Ohio valley, at Niagara, at Fort 
Frederic or Crown Point, and at Fort Beau Sejour, in Acadia. 
The main enterprise, that against Fort Du 
Quesne, was assigned to General Braddock. 
He attempted to wage war amid the wilds of 
America after the manner of a European cam- 
paign. He treated with disdain the provincial 
troops, and rejected the counsels of "Washing- 
ton and other backwoods fighters. He was 
full of confidence as to his easy success in this unfamiliar 
forest warfare. "Fort Du Quesne," he said, to Franklin, 
" can hardly detain me above three or four days, and then I 




CAMPAIGN OF 1733. 201 

see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara." "The 
Indians are dexterous in laying and executing ambuscades," 
Franklin replied. "The savages maybe formidable to your 
raw American militia," Braddock haughtily answered; "but 
upon the King's regulars and disciplined troops, it is impossible _ 
that they should make any impression." He was destined to 
be soon undeceived. 

Twenty-seven days were consumed in the march from Alex- 
andria, on the Potomac, to Fort Cumberland, on the head- 
waters of that river. Here several weeks were spent in camp, 
drilling a contingent of raw militia, and preparing a wagon- 
train.* Early in June, the little army of twenty-three hundred 
men left Fort Cumberland. A hundred expert axe-men went 
ahead, and the crash of falling trees heralded the advance of 
the expedition. With infinite toil a path was hewed through 
the wilderness, and over the mountains, and every creek was 
bridged. An un wieldly baggage and artillery train, extending 
several miles, was dragged over the rugged road by straining 
horses. Learning that Fort Du Quesne was being re-enforced, 
Braddock, with twelve hundred picked men, pressed on with 
the lighter baggage and artillery, and left the rest of the army, 
under command of Colonel Dunbar, to follow with the heavy 
wagons. 

On the 9th of July, the advance body had reached the neigh- 
bourhood of the Monongahela. The march was conducted in 
a most unvigilant manner. "Washington, who commanded some 
companies of Virginia militia, and was attached to Braddock's 
staff, so urgently warned the headstrong general of the peril 
of Indian attack, that he was ordered, in a moment of irrita- 
tion, to assume the inglorious duties of rear-guard. They 
were now within nine miles of Fort Du Quesne. Contrecoeur, 
the French commandant, was about to give it up for lost ; but 
Beaujeu, a captain of the garrison, proposed to waylay and 
attack the British in the woods, and with a party -of French 
and Indians, sallied forth for that purpose.. 

Meanwhile, Braddock's command, on that brilliant midsum- 
mer day, forded the river and entered the forest beyond. It 

26 



202 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

•was a gallant sight, — the bannered array, the scarlet uniforms, 
the gleam of bayonets, as the little army, with flying colours, 
unconsciously pressed on to its fate, — the fife and drum corps 
making the forest ring with the inspiring strains of " The 
British Grenadiers." As they entered a narrow defile, sud- 
denly the deadly war-whoop rang, and a murderous fire was 
poured into their ranks by unseen enemies, lurking amid the 
shadows of the primeval forest. 

For two hours, the deadly conflict continued. The British 
regulars were thrown into confusion, and, huddled together like 
sheej), fell by scores, their solid platoons being mowed down 
by the fire of the concealed French and Indians, till, panic- 
stricken, they broke and fled. In vain their officers sought to 
rally them. Braddock had five horses shot under him, and fell 
mortally wounded by a ball that shattered his arm and pene- 
trated his lung. The colonial troops, under Colonel Washing- 
ton, displayed a steadiness that put the regulars to shame, 
fighting skilfully, after the bush manner, behind the trees ; 
but scarce one-fifth of their number left the field alive. Of the 
English, seven hundred and fourteen, or more than half the 
entire command, were killed or wounded. The fugitives fled 
through the night, and paused not till they reached the baggage 
camp, forty miles back. They communicated their panic to 
Dunbar's troops, who broke up camp in dismay, burned their 
baggage, provisions, and stores, to the value of £100,000, and 
precipitately retreated to Fort Cumberland and Philadelphia. 
Braddock was borne, in a dying condition, with his flying 
army. " Who would have thought it ! " he murmured, rousing 
himself from a lethargy ; "we shall better know how to deal 
with them another time." But his dear-bought experience 
came too late ; that night he died. 

The French, who were only some two hundred and fifty in 
number, attempted no pursuit ; and their six hundred savage 
allies reaped a rich harvest of scalps, and booty, and brilliant 
British uniforms. Fifteen cannon, and Braddock's military- 
chest, containing the dispatches of the British ministry, which 
revealed their design with respect to Canada, became also the 



CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 



203 



spoil of the conqueror. The assailants lost only forty men. 
This disastrous rout, brought on the Pennsylvania and Virginia 
settlements all the horrors of a merciless border warfare. The 
western tribes seized their tomahawks and turned into one wide 
scene of havoc the entire English frontier. 

The expedition against Fort Niagara, failed even to reach its 
destination. Disheartened by Braddock's defeat, the militia 
deserted by scores ; and the Iroquois, wavering in their alle- 
giance, disputed its right of way through their territory. Reach- 
ing Lake Ontario, in August, Shirley, its commander, left 
seven hundred men to garrison Oswego, and returned with the 
remainder to Albany. 

For William Johnson, the colonial militia officer, was re- 
served the honour of redeeming the reputation of the British 
arms, tarnished by the disastrous defeat of Braddock, the vet- 
eran European soldier. Early in July, the hardy New Eng- 
land and New York militia, to the number of five thousand 
men, assembled at Albany, for the purpose of making an at- 
tack on Crown Point, which was strongly garrisoned by the 
French. This force, led by General Lyman, 
advanced forty miles up the Hudson River, 
and constructed ^ort Edward, as a depot for 
provisions, and point of support in case of 
defeat. Towards the end of August, John- 
son joined the untrained army and conducted 
it across the portage of twelve miles, to 
the southern extremity of the lake, called 
by the French, Lake of the Holy Sacrament. 
"I found," said Johnson, "a mere wilder- 
never was house or fort erected here 



ness 



before." He re-named this beautiful expanse 
of waters, Lake George, and constructed on 
its shore, a camp for five thousand men. Here 




■LAKE GEOEGE. 

much time 

was spent in languid preparation for the attack on Crown 
Point. 

Meanwhile, Baron Dieskau had been more active. He had 
been despatched from Quebec to attack the British garrison at 



204 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

the mouth of the Oswego Eiver ; but learning the peril that 
menaced Crown Point, Vaudreuil had directed him to proceed 
to the support of that fort. He advanced rapidly, with seven 
hundred regular troops, fifteen hundred Canadian militia, and 
seven hundred Indian warriors to the menaced fortress. Leav- 
ing part of his force at Crown Point, he pressed on, with six 
hundred Indians, as many Canadians, and two hundred picked 
regulars, intending to fall on Fort Edward. Johnson, obtam- 
ing intelligence of this movement, sent a thousand men to 
intercept him. They fell into an ambuscade of French and 
Indians, were badly cut up, and retreated on the main body, 
hotly pursued by Dieskau. Johnson prepared for an attack. 
Although this was his first campaign, he had planted his camp 
with great skill, — flanked by marshes on the right and left, and 
partially protected by a breastwork of trees in front. The 
French advanced to the charge under a murderous fire of the 
New England sharpshooters. Most of the French regulars 
were killed or wounded. After a fierce contest of four hours, 
they were compelled to retreat precipitately, closely pursued 
by the British, to their entrenched camp at Ticonderoga, at the, 
northern end of the lake. They lost nearly as many as had the 
English in Braddock's defeat, and from the same cause, — the 
rash confidence of the commander in the tactics of regular 
troops, as opposed to the skilled wood-craft of militia-men. 
Dieskau, being severely wounded, was made prisoner. John- 
son, who had lost three hundred men, prudently declined the 
risk of leading his raw troops against the ramparts of Ticon- 
deroga. Having built and garrisoned Fort William Henry, on 
the site of the conflict, he fell back on Albany, where his 
forces were disbanded. He received a grant of £5,000 and a 
knighthood for his achievement. 

In the spring of the year, Colonel Moncton, with forty-one 
vessels and two thousand men, had sailed from Boston to re- 
duce Fort Beau Sejour, in the Acadian isthmus, to which the 
French still laid claim. Ill-manned by a few hundred refugees 
and a handful of soldiers, it capitulated, after four days' invest- 
ment, and was re-named Fort Cumberland. Captain Kous, 



CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 205 

who bad charge of the naval part of the expedition, now sailed 
to the mouth of the St. John to attack the fort recently con- 
structed there by the French. On his arrival, he was saved 
that trouble, as its occupants hastily abandoned it, having dis- 
mantled, and, as far as possible, destroyed the works. 

The Acadian peasants, on the beautiful shores of the Bay of 
Fundy, were a simple, virtuous, and prosperous community. 
Their civil disputes, when any arose, which was rare, were all 
settled by the kindly intervention of their priest, who also 
made their wills and drew up their public acts. If wealth was 
rare, poverty was unknown ; for a feeling of brotherhood 
anticipated the claims of want. Domestic happiness and public 
morality were fostered by early marriages ; and homely thrift 
was rewarded by almost universal comfort. Such is the 
delightful picture painted by the sympathetic ]3en of the Abbe 
Eaynal, — a picture that almost recalls the innocence and hap- 
piness of the poets' fabled Golden Age, 

" Thus dwelt in love, those simple Acadian farmers." 

With remarkable industry, they had reclaimed from the sea hy 
dykes, many thousands of fertile acres, whieh produced abun- 
dant crops of grain and orchard fruits ; and on the sea meadows, 
at one time, grazed as many as sixty thousand head of cattle. 
The simple wants of the peasants were supplied by domestic 
manufactures of flax or woollen, or by importations from Louis- 
burg, So great was their attachment to the government and 
institutions of their fatherland, that during the aggressions of 
the English, after their conquest of the country, a great part 
of the population, — some ten thousand, it has been said, 
although the nmnber is disputed, — abandoned their homes and 
migrated to that portion of Acadia still claimed by the French, 
or to Cape Breton, or Canada. Some seven thousand still 
remained in the peninsula of Nova Scotia ; but they claimed 
a political neutrality, resolutely refusing to take the oath of 
allegiance to the alien conquerors. *' Better," said the priests 
to their obedient flock, " suiTender your meadows to the sea, 
and your houses to the flames, than peril your souls by taking 



206 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

that obnoxious oath." They were accused, and probably with 
only too good reason, of intriguing with their countrymen 
at Louisburg, with resisting the English authority, and with 
inciting and even leading the Indians to ravage the English 
settlements 

The cruel Micmacs needed little instigation. They swooped 
down on the little town of Dartmouth, opposite Halifax, and 
within gunshot of its forts, and reaped a rich harvest of scalps 
and booty. The English prisoners they sometimes sold at 
Louisburg for arms and ammunition; the French Governor 
asserted that pure compassion was the motive of this traffic, 
in order to rescue the captives from massacre. He demanded, 
however, an excessive ransom for their liberation. The In- 
dians were sometimes, or indeed generally, it was asserted, led 
in these murderous raids by French commanders. These viola- 
tions of neutrality, however, were chiefly the work of a few 
turbulent spirits. The mass of the Acadian peasants seem to 
have been a peaceful and inoffensive people, although they 
naturally sympathized with their countrymen, and rejoiced at 
the victory of Du Qiiesne, and sorrowed at the defeat of Lake 
George. 

The Governor of the jDrovince was embarrassed by the 
peculiar situation of this nonjuring population, and scarce 
knew what course to adopt toward them. They could scarcely 
be considered rebels, for they had never sworn allegiance to 
the British Crown. Neither were they prisoners of war, since, 
for nearly half a century, they had been permitted to retain 
possession of their lands. Their evident sympathy with their 
countrymen and co-religionists in Canada and Cape Breton, 
alarmed Governor Lawrence and the Council at Halifax, and 
it was decreed that the whole French population should be dis- 
armed, and that their boats should be seized, in order to pre- 
vent them from aiding the enemy. Vexatious requisitions were 
made in a manner which rendered them doubly offensive. They 
were informed by British officers, that unless they furnished 
the military posts with fuel, their houses would be used for 
that purpose. If they failed to provide the supplies demanded, 



CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 207 

without stipulating any terms as to payment, they were threat- 
ened with immediate military execution.* 

As there were continued and frequent violations of their 
professed neutrality, on the part of the Acadians, and as three 
hundred of them had been found in arms against the British, 
at the taking of Beau S(5jour, it was resolved by the Council at 
Halifax, that they must take the unconditional oath of alle- 
giance to the King of England. Deputies were summoned 
from the Acadian settlements to Halifax, to express the decision 
of their compatriots. They absolutely declined to take the ob- 
noxious oath, unless accompanied by the exemption from bear- 
ing arms. This exemption was refused, and the deputies were 
imprisoned and warned of the serious consequences of their 
act. They still refused to violate what they seem to have 
regarded almost as a religious principle. They were now de- 
clared rebels and outlaws, and the Council at Halifax, confound- 
ing the innocent with the guilty, decreed the expulsion of the 
entire French population. lu order to prevent their strength- 
ening the French, in Cape Breton or Canada, it was decided to 
distribute them among the several British colonies of North 
America. Circulars were therefore addressed to the colonial 
Governors of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsyl- 
vania, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, stating the 
reasons for this wholesale expatriation, and urging them to 
prevent the re-union of the exiles, or their subsequent mo- 
lestation of the country, from which they were about to be 
driven. 

The execution of this stern purpose was committed chiefly 
to New England forces, under the command of Colonel 
"VVinslow. A number of transports were collected in Boston 
harbour, and the utmost secrecy was observed till they were 
anchored off the French settlements, on the Bay of Fundy, 

* Conncil Records at Halifax, as quoted in Haliburton'a History of Nova 
Scotia, Tol. I., p. 169: — " No excuse shall be taken for not bringing in fire- wood, 
and if they do not do it in proper time, the soldiers shall absolutely take their 
houses for fuel." ..." They are not to be bargained with for the payment, 
but you will furnish them with certificates, which will entitle them to such 
payments at Halifax, as shall be thought reasonable." 



208 HISTORY OF CANADA. • 

and in the Basin of Minas. The unsuspecting Acadians had 
been allowed to gather in their fruitful harvest, and their barns 
were bursting with plenty. On one and the same day, the 
5th of September, the entire male population, over ten years 
old, were ordered, under heavy penalties, to assemble in the 
several settlements. 

Let one example of this cruel expatriation suffice. 

At Grand Pre, four hundred and eighteen persons assembled 
in the village church, when the British officer read from the 
altar the decree of their exile. Their lands, houses, cattle, and 
crops were pronounced confiscated. Their money and house- 
hold goods they might carry with them, as far as possible with- 
out overcrowding the vessels. Loud was the outcry, and 
bitter the denunciation of the cruel mandate. But resistance 
was impossible ; armed soldiers guarded the door ; the men 
were encaged in prison, and were confined under guard for 
four days. Ori the fifth day, they were marched, at the bay- 
onet's point, amid the wailings of their relatives, to the shore, 
and placed on board the transports. The women and children 
were shipped in other vessels. Families were scattered ; hus- 
bands and wives separated, — many never to meet again. The 
night that followed was made lurid by the flames of burning 
homesteads, well-filled barns, and stacks of corn, while herds 
of afirighted cattle and horses rushed wildly over the meadows.* 
It was three months later, in the bleak December, before the 
last of the exiles were removed. For a long time afterwards, 
advertisements for the strayed and missing, in the colonial 
newspapers, attested the efforts of those banished ones to re- 
unite the scattered links of the broken family circle. 

At Annapolis, a hundred householders, unwilling to abandon 
their homes, fled to the woods, and were hunted like beasts of 
prey. Others found refuge among the Indians, or escaped 

* The number removed from Grand Pr€ was nineteen hundred and twenty- 
three persons. In the District of Minas alone, two hundred and fifty-five 
houses, two hundred and seventy-six barns, one hundred and fifty-four out- 
houses, eleven mills, and one church were burned. Thousands of cattle were 
confiscated by the English. 



CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 209 

through the wilderness to Canada. A number, estimated at 
from seven to eight thousand, were dispersed along the 
Atlantic seaboard, from Maine to Georgia. The colonial Gov- 
ernors were required to detain the exiles as prisoners. Twelve 
hundred were carried to South Carolina. A few planted a new 
Acadia among their countrymen in Louisiana. Some tried to 
return to their blackened hearths, coasting in open boats along 
the shore. These were relentlessly intercepted when possible, 
and sent back into hopeless exile. 

An imperishable interest has been imparted to this sad story 
by Longfellow's beautiful poem, " Evangeline," which describes 
the sufferings and sorrows of some of the inhabitants of the 
little village of Grand Pre. It is a page in our country's an- 
nals that is not pleasant to contemplate, but we may not ignore 
the painful facts. Every patriot must regret the stern military 
necessity, — if necessity there were, — that compelled the in- 
conceivable suffering of so many innocent beings. Save the 
expulsion of the Moriscoes from Spain, and of the Huguenots 
from France, history offers no parallel to this unhappy event. 

27 



210 HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 

The Seven Years' War Begun, 1756 — Eespective Condition of tlie Frencli and 
English in America — Bradstreet's Gallant Exploit — Montcalm Captures 
Fort Oswego — Immense Booty — London's FutUe Attempt against Louis- 
burg — Montcalm IJedTices Fort William Henry — Indian Massacre of Twelve 
Hundied British Prisoners — Exhaustion of Canada — Famine — Extortion 
and Profligacy of Bigot and His Associates. 

NOTWITHSTANDING the hostile demonstrations of the 
year 1755, including the fierce fights of Fort Du Quesne 
and Lake George, war was not formally declared till the follow- 
ing spring (1756). France, Austria, and Russia were com- 
bined against England and Prussia, for the prolonged and bitter 
struggle of the Seven Years' War. It seemed at first as though 
the combination must be fatal to Britain and her ally. But the 
political sagacity of William Pitt, and the military genius of 
Frederick the Great, with the lavish expenditure of treasure 
and blood, humbled their enemies, and raised their respective 
countries to the summit of glory. The ' ' Great Commoner " 
made good his proud boast, that "England should moult no 
feather of her crest." Clive's stupendous victory on the plains 
of Plassey, gave her her Indian Empire, and Wolfe's heroic 
death on the heights of Quebec, was the price of the conquest 
of this great continent. 

The campaign of 1756 opened with the best prospects for 
the French. They were supreme in the Ohio valley, and 
throughout the Great West. They held three forts on Lake 
Ontario, — Frontenac, Niagara, and Toronto; the only rival 
to their undisputed control of its waters, being the British fort 
at the moutbof the Oswego, which was destined shortly to fall 
into their hands. Their flag floated defiantly at Crown Point 
and Ticonderoga, which commanded the gateway of Canada, 
by way of Lake Champlain. 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 211 

The French military officers, too, were far superior in dash 
and daring to their opi3onents. Montcalm, the commander-in- 
chief, who* arrived at Quebec early in the sprmg, had acquired 
experience and skill in Italy and Germany, and was audacious 
in battle even to the verge of rashness. De Levi and St. Veran, 
his colleagues, were also able officers. The military strength 
of the French, however, was far inferior to that of the British. 
The number of regulars was increased to about four thousand, 
bat the total available colonial forces amounted to only twice 
that number. The whole French population was scarcely 
eighty thousand, and it was ground down by feudal exactions, 
knavish commercial monopolies, and fraudulent public servants. 
The crops of the previous year, moreover, had been a failure, 
and the impoverished people were often in want of food, the 
scarcity of which was still further increased, by the demand for 
supplies for the military, and for the starving Acadian exiles. 

The British colonies, on the other hand, numbered three 
millions of inhabitants. Fostered by freedom and intelligence, 
these had become rich and i^rosperous. Though not deficient 
in valour, they possessed less of the military instinct, and were 
more addicted to peaceful industry, than their northern neigh- 
bours. The Earl of Loudon, a man utterly without military 
genius, was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces 
and Governor of Virginia. He was preceded by General 
Abercrombie, with two veteran regiments. A judicious plan 
of operations was devised by a council of colonial Governors, 
at New York. It comprehended expeditions against forts 
Frederick, Niagara, Du Quesne, and Quebec, by an aggregate 
force of twenty-five thousand colonial militia and royal troops. 
The House of Commons had voted £115,000 to aid the colonies 
in their operations. But delay and indecision frustrated these 
purposes, while promptness and vigour characterized the oper- 
ations of the French. 

The British fort at Oswego had been the object of an attack 
by Dieskau the previous year, when he turned aside to succour 
Crown Point, threatened by Johnson, and by the side of the 
beautiful Lake George, met his early fate. In order to keep 



212 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

up communications with Lake Ontario, the British had estab- 
lished a chain of forest forts, extending from Schenectady to 
Oswego. Early in the spring, Vaudrueil dispatched a force 
of three hundred and fifty French and eighty Indians, to de- 
stroy these forts. One of them, Fort Bull, was taken, and a 
large quantity of military munitions destroyed. 

Meanwhile, Abercrombie, deeming the strength of his com- 
mand insufficient for an attack on Crown Point, was loitering 
away the weeks at Albany, waiting for re-enforcements. In 
the month of June, Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet, with a force 
of Irish recruits, guarded up the Mohawk and down the Oswego 
rivers a large convoy of provisions and stores, — sufficient for a 
garrison of five thousand men for six months, — and Buccess- 
fully conveyed them to Fort Oswego. On his return, he was 
intercepted by Captain de Villiers, with a body of seven hun- 
dred men, French and Indians, from Fort Frontenac. Fearing 
an attack, Bradstreet had divided his force into three divisions, 
and was ascending the Oswego with the first, when he was 
assailed by far superior numbers. He bravely held his own 
against tremendous odds, till he was supported by the second 
and third divisions. A desperate conflict then ensued, in w^hich 
the French were completely routed, a hundred of their number 
slain and seventy captured. Bradstreet, however, lost sixty of 
his stout-hearted Irish recruits. He hastened to Albany, and 
conveyed to Abercrombie the startling intelligence, that Oswego 
was threatened by a large French force. Still no efficient 
efforts were made for the relief of the menaced fortress ; 
although Abercrombie had ten or twelve thousand colonial and 
British soldiers at his disposal. 

Meanwhile, Montcalm, by his eager energy, was infusing 
new vigour into the military operations of the French. Travel- 
ling night and day, he hastened from Quebec to Fort Carillon, 
at Ticonderoga. He took active measures for improving its 
defences, and left M. do Levi in command, with three thousand 
men, half of whom were regulars. With characteristic energy, 
he next resolved on the capture of Oswego. He collected a 
force of three thousand regulars, Canadian militia, and Indians 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 213 

at Fort Frontenac. Moving only by night, and hiding their 
batteaux beneath heaps of brush-wood by day, the expedition 
reached Fort Oswego by the 10th of August, while Montcalm 
was thought to be still at Carillon. 

The main fort was a large stone structure, mounting thirty 
guns and howitzers. For its support, Fort Ontario, a much 
smaller construction, had been created on the opposite and left 
bank of the river. The whole was garrisoned by seventeen 
hundred men, under Colonel Mercer. Montcalm opened his 
trenches within two hundred yards of Fort Ontario, during the 
night of August 12th, and next day kept up a brisk fire. In 
the evening the garrison of Fort Ontario, having exhausted 
their ammunition, spiked their guns and retreated to the main 
fort, across the river. Montcalm promptly occupied the aban- 
doned fort, and turned its guns on Fort Oswego, which it was 
constructed to protect. Colonel Mercer was soon killed, and 
the garrison, despairing of receiving re-enforcements from 
General Webb, who, with a force of two thousand men, was 
posted at no great distance, raised the white flag of surrender. 
A hundred and fifty English were killed or wounded during 
the brief siege, besides thirty massacred by the Indians after 
the capitulation. The loss of the French was less than half 
as great. The booty was immense, comprising seven armed 
vessels, two hundred batteaux, one hundred and seven cannon, 
a vast quantity of stores, and a large sum of money. These 
were all dispatched to Montreal, together with sixteen hundred 
prisoners, and to allay the jealousy of the Iroquois, as well as 
fi-om inability to garrison it, the fort was razed to the ground. 

General Webb hastily retreated, felling trees to obstruct 
pursuit, and conveyed the disastrous intelligence to Albany. 
Montcalm's victory was stained by the atrocities of his savage 
allies, who even scalped the sick in the hospital of the fort, 
although he used his utmost efforts to put a stop to the mas- 
sacre. The success of the French arms confirmed the growing 
reputation of Montcalm, and created great joy throughout 
Canada. It seems, at the same time, to have paralyzed the 
activity of the British. The French were allowed to construct 



214 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

strong fortifications at Ticonderoga, and the British, forces, which 
might have penetrated to the heart of Canada, were sent into 
winter quarters, — the colonial militia to their homes, while the 
regulars were billeted on the inhabitants of Albany and New 
York, much to the disgust of their hosts. Of the projected 
attacks on Crown Point, Niagara, Fort Du Quesne and Quebec, 
not one was carried into execution. With the exception of 
Bradstreet's gallant exploit at the beginning of the season, the 
record of the campaign had been one of disaster and defeat. 

During the winter, a force of fifteen hundred French and 
Indians advanced, on snow-shoes, camping at night amid the 
snow, from Montreal, to attempt the capture of Fort William 
Henry, at the southern end of Lake George, a distance of 
nearly two hundred miles. Unable to surprise the fort, they 
burned all the outworks, together Avith the adjacent mills, four 
armed brigantines, three hundred and fifty batteaux, and im- 
mense stores of provisions and war materiel, and carried con- 
sternation even within Abercrombie's entrenchments at Albany. 
Marauding parties of French and Indians ravaged the English 
frontier with fire and sword, swooping down on lonely settle- 
ments, in midnight attacks, and murdering and scalping the 
inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex. 

The harvest of the half-tilled acres of Canada had been a 
comparative failure, and a great dearth of provisions prevailed. 
The presence of several hundreds of famishing Acadian refugees 
made matters still worse. They implored the privilege of 
fiofhtino: for the Kin";, but the number of combatants was 
already greater than there was food to maintain. But for the 
provisions captured at Oswego, it would have been impossible 
to re-victual the forts at Frontenac, Niagara, and on the Ohio. 
Still, the rapacity of Bigot, the Intendant, and his minions of 
the Grand Company, was unrestrained. Provisions and stores, 
sent from France for the succour of the starving colonists, were 
sold at famine prices, and the enormous profits passed into the 
hands of this gang of thieves. The allowance of bread, at 
Quebec, was reduced to four ounces a day. The ravages of 
small-pox were also added to those of famine. 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AXD 1757. 215- 

The following year, 1757, Lord Loudon resolved to make 
Louisburg the chief point of attack. In July, he assembled 
at Halifax, a fleet of twenty ships of the line, carrying over 
twelve hundred cannon, and ninety transports, with eleven 
thousand soldiers, chiefly veteran troops. Here he wasted a 
month in mock battles and sieges. Learning that Louisburg 
was garrisoned by ten thousand men, and guarded by a fleet as 
strong as his own, he abandoned his design. One of his vessels 
was wrecked on the rocky coast of Cape Breton, and half of 
her crew jDerished in the waves. Eleven ships were dismasted, 
and obliged to throw their cannon into the sea. The remainder 
of the fleet, in a shattered condition, with difficulty made its 
way to England. 

Meanwhile, the indefatigable Montcalm took advantage of 
the diversion of attention toward Louisburg, to strike a fatal 
blow at Fort William Henry, on Lake George. In July, he 
assembled at Ticonderoga, a force of six thousand regulars 
and militia, and sixteen hundred savages of thirty different 
tribes. Early in August, the fort, now garrisoned by twenty- 
seven hundred men, under Colonel Munroe, was invested by 
the French, whose main body advanced, on a stormy night, 
down Lake George in two hundred and fifty batteaux, the rest 
of his force having proceeded by land. For five days, a fierce 
bombardment woke the wild echoes of the mountains, and by 
night illumined the engirdling forest and placid lake, while 
hundreds of yelling savages scoured the woods, cutting off and 
scalping all stragglers. At Fort Edward, within fifteen miles, 
lay the craven General Webb, with four thousand troops ; but 
instead of endeavouring to relieve the besieged, he sent an 
exaggerated account of the number of the French, and a 
recommendation to surrender. *'I shall defend my trust to 
the last extremity," exclaimed the gallant Munroe, and, spurn- 
ing the coward counsel, he held out till half his guns were burst 
and his ammunition was nearly exhausted, and over three 
hundred and fifty men were killed and wounded, before he 
surrendered. 

On the 9th of August, a capitulation was signed, which 



216 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

allowed the British to march out with the honours of war, 
with flying colours and beating drums, and guaranteed an 
escort to Fort Edward. The English engaged not to serve 
against the French for eighteen months. On the surrender, a 
tragedy ensued which stained with the blood of its victims the 
laurels of the victors. As the garrison, with its camp-following 
of women and children, was dfefiling through the woods, the 
blood-thirsty savages, balked of their anticipated harvest of 
scalps and plunder, and maddened by liquor, which the British 
had neglected to destroy, fell in ruthless massacre upon the 
panic-stricken throng. The scanty escort in vain endeavoured 
to restrain the frenzied wretches in their work of slaughter. 
Montcalm threw himself between the savages and their victims. 
"Kill me," he exclaimed, *'but spare the English; they are 
under my protection." De Levi and other officers interposed, 
with daring and devotion, to stop the massacre, and to rescue 
the prisoners from their savage allies ; and several of them 
received serious injuries from the Indians, while protecting the 
English from their rage. Six hundred wretched fugitives 
esca^^ed through the woods to Fort Edward. The French sent 
thither, under a strong escort, four hundred prisoners whom, 
not without personal danger, they had rescued. They after- 
wards ransomed two hundred others, who had been carried cap- 
tives to Montreal. The remaining twelve hundred, there is 
reason to fear, were massacred or enslaved by the Indians. 
Montcalm disavowed all responsibility for the act ; but the inhu- 
man practice of engaging lawless savages as allies in the wars 
of civilized men, was the fatal cause of this and other like 
atrocities. 

Montcalm razed Fort "William Henry to the ground, and, 
deterred from a further advance by short allowance of food, 
the French returned to reap the scanty harvest of their Cana- 
dian fields. Naught remained to mark human habitation on 
the shores of the lonely lake, save the charred ruins of the 
fort, and the graves of the dead on the hillside. 

The fall of Fort William Henry created dismay in the English 
camp at Albany, and at Fort Edward. At the latter place, the 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1756 AND 1757. 217 

craven-hearted Webb, with five thousand men, was in daily- 
expectation of attack, and was eager to retreat to the fast- 
nesses of the highlands on the Hudson. "Exert yourself to 
sn,vo a province," Captain Christie, the officer commanding at 
Albany, adjured Governor Pownall of Massachusetts; "New 
York itself may fall." The following day, he wrote still more 
importunately: "Save the country. Prevent the downfall of 
the British Government upon this continent." 

A storm of indignation was excited in England at the dis- 
astrous results of the camj)aign, from which so much had been 
exj)ected. Not less than twenty thousand troops had wasted 
the season of the year, during which alone action was possible, 
in disembarkations, parades, sham-fights, and retreats, and had 
lost possession of a fort, constructed and filled with stores at 
immense cost. Twenty magnificent ships of the line had sailed 
proudly forth from British harbours, and without firing a gun 
for the honour of Old England, had been compelled to return, 
shattered and maimed, to the ports whence they came. The 
loss ^of ships, of treasure, of lives, of glory, precipitated the 
fall of the incompetent Newcastle ministry, and led to the res- 
toration to power of William Pitt, — the only man who seemed 
capable of raising England from the abyss of disaster, if not 
of degradation, into which she had sunk. 

Notwithstanding the successes of the French in the last two 
campaigns, the condition of Canada was one of extreme exhaus- 
tion. During the weary months of winter, a severe f^ine 
prevailed. The cultivation of the fields had been itss. 
abandoned to women and children, every able-bodied man 
being enrolled in the army. The meagre crops that had been 
sown were almost a total failure. In many parishes, scarce 
enough grain was reaped to supply seed for the next sowing. 
The soldiers and citizens were put upon short allowance of 
horse-flesh and bread. The daily rations were continuously 
reduced till, in April, the allowance of bread was only two 
ounces. Men fell down from faintness in the streets of Quebec. 
Three hundred Acadian refugees perished of hunger. 

During this period of general distress, Bigot, the Intendant, 
28 



218 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

and his partners in crime and extortion, — Cadet, Yarin, De 
Pean and others, — battened like vampires upon the life-blood 
of their unhappy country. Bigot, the chief criminal, was mean 
in stature, repulsive in countenance, odious in life. His 
rapacity was almost incredible. He seized, in the King's name, 
all the grain, cattle, and horses on which his minions could lay 
hands, and resold them, through his agents, at a tenfold 
increase in price. He actually, in this time of famine, ex- 
ported large quantities of breadstuff's to the West Indies, and ' 
made enormous profits from the enhanced cost of food at home. 
He, with his creatures, monopolized the commerce of the colony 
and the army contracts ; defrauding both the King, the people, 
and the soldiers, by false entries, exorbitant charges, wholesale 
embezzlement, wretched supplies, and the most flagrant bribery, 
corruption, extortion, and robbery. He destroyed the financial 
credit of the colony, by the lavish issue of paper money, under 
his own signature, made payable at the Eoyal Treasury of 
France, which soon became utterly worthless. While the 
country languished, this gang of thieves amassed princely 
fortunes. Their houses were the scenes of the most unblushing 
profligacy, gambling, and licentious riot and excess. " It would 
seem," wrote Montcalm, " that all are in haste to be rich before 
the colony is altogether lost to France." They seemed even 
desirous to precipitate that loss, in order that they might cover 
their own misdeeds. 

The mother country was herself exhausted by the exactions 
of a world-wide war, and her civil and military administration 
was corrupted and enfeebled by the profligacy of the court. 
She could send few re-enforcements of men or money, military 
stores or food, to the colony ; and most of the victualling ships 
sent out in the spring of 1758 were -captured by the British. 



CAMPAIGNS OF 17i3 AND 1759. 219 



CHAPTER XVn. 

THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 

Pitt, Prime Minister of England — Fall of Lonisburg — Abercrombie's Defeat 
at Ticonderoga — Bradstreet Captures Fort Frontenac — Fort Du Quesne 
Eednced — Ee-named Fort Pitt — Hapless Condition of Canada — The Toils 
of Fate Closing — British Victories around the "World — The Hero of Louis- 
burg — Fall of Fort Niagara — Amherst Eeduces Ticonderoga — Exploit and 
Suiferiugs of Major Eogers. 

THE disasters of tlie English only served to arouse their 
intenser energy and firmer determination. The iinfor- 
tmiate Newcastle ministry resigned, and William Pitt, for a 
time excluded from the Cabinet, by the unanimous voice of the 
country was summoned to the chief place in the great Council 
of the nation. In a venal age, he had proved himself an incor- 
ruptible statesman. He had no private ends to serve, and 
sought only the glory of England, and the humbling of her 
enemies. "I am sure that I can save the country," he ex- 
claimed, to the Duke of Devonshire, "audi am certain that 
no one else can do it." His lofty courage, noble patriotism, 
and honest administration were the guaran- 
tee of success. He resolved on the abso- 
lute conquest of Canada, even at the cost 
of Ens'Lind's "last shillins: and last man." 
He had a difficult task before him. ' ' The 
French are masters to do what they please 
in America," wrote Lord Chesterfield ; 
"we are no longer a nation ; I never yet 
saw so dreadful a prospect." Yet Pitt william pitt. 
raised England from this' Slough of Despond, to the pinnacle 
of glory. He infused his own energy into every branch of the 
public service. On the plains of Plassey, in the trenches of 
Louisburg, on the heights of Abraham, his influence was felt. 
From the admiral of the fleet, to the sailor before the mast ; 




220 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

from the genercO.! of the army, to the private soldier, every one 
caught the inspiration of his intrepid spirit. 

Pitt selected his agents, not by the principles of favouritism, 
but for their ability to do the work required of them. Lord 
Loudon was therefore recalled, notwithstanding his elevated 
rank. Colonel Amherst, an officer of energy and prudence, was 
raised to the rank of major-general, and received command of 
the projected expedition against Louisburg. Under- him were 
Whitmore, Lawrence, and Wolfe, as brigadier-generals, — 
officers whose brilliant career amply vindicated their selection. 
To the Plon. Edward Boscawen was given the command of the 
fleet. 

Lord Abercrombie, who was personally unknown to Pitt, 
was left in command of the army destined to attack Crown 
Point ; with the brave but ill-fated Lord Howe as his second 
in authority. Expeditions against forts Du Quesne, Niagara, 
and Frontenac were organized, and assigned to able officers. 
The supreme attack was to be made upon the heart of Canada, 
at Quebec and Montreal. The military forces were increased 
to fift}^ thousand men, twenty thousand of whom were British 
regulars. The French girded themselves for what they felt to 
be the death-wrestle. " We will bury ourselves, if need be," 
wrote Montcalm, *' beneath the ruins of the colony." 

The first blow was struck at Louisburg. Its fortress had 
fallen greatly into decay since the siege of 1742 ; but it was 
garrisoned by three thousand five hundred men, and supported 
by ten ships of war. Early in June, Admiral Boscawen, with 
thirty-seven ships of war, and one hundred and twenty trans- 
ports, conveying twelve thousand troops, arrived at daybreak 
off Louisburg. Amherst had intended, if possible, to surprise 
the fort, and had issued orders for the concealment of all lights 
on shipboard, and for the observance of perfect silence during 
the landing. For six days, however, a rough sea, dashing in 
heavy breakers on the iron coast, prevented debarkation ; the 
French, meanwhile, actively throwing up earthworks all along 
the shore. Early on the seventh day, Wolfe, with a strong 
force, gallantly landed through the surf. The French swarmed 



CAMPAIGNS OF 175S AXD 1759. 221 

on the shore, and poured a heavy fire into the boats. Still, not 
a shot was returned, till, struggling to the land, the soldiers 
gave a hearty British cheer, and jDromptly dislodged the enemy 
from their earthworks, and drove them flying over the plain. 
A hundred boats had been swamped or wrecked in the debarka- 
tion, with the loss of several lives ; and for two days the fury 
of the waves prevented the landing of siege guns, tents, and 
necessary stores. 

The siege was vigorously pressed by day and night, for seven 
weeks. The resistance was brave but ineffectual. Several 
sorties were made, not without serious damage to the besiegers. 
Madame Drucourt, the wife of the Governor, encouraged the 
garrison by her heroism. During the bombardment, she often 
appeared among the soldiers on the ramparts, and even fired 
the great guns, and encouraged with rewards the most expert 
artillery-men. With her own hands, she dressed the wounds 
of the injured, and, by the exhibition of her own courage, 
enbraved the hearts of the defenders of the fort. Every effort, 
however, was in vain. The walls crumbled rapidly under the 
heavy fire of the besiegers. 

Several vessels had been sunk at the harbour's mouth, to 
prevent the entrance of the British. A live shell set fire to a 
French seventy-four gun ship in the harbour. Its magazine 
exploded and set fire to two other ships. Two 3^oung oflicers, 
Captains La Torey and Balfour, rowed into the harbour on a 
dark night, with the boats of the fleet, cut out one of the 
remaining vessels, and burnt the other. Three gaping breaches 
now yawned in the walls. The British batteries were pushed 
up to the ramparts. Four-fifths of the guns were dismounted. 
The town and fortress were well-nigh demolished by shot and 
shell. The French fleet was destroyed, and the offing was 
white with the blockading British squadron. Yalour could do 
no more, and on the 26th of July, Drucourt capitulated. 

Fifteen thousand stand of arms, two hundred and forty pieces 
of ordnance, and immense quantities of stores, fell into the 
hands of the British. Eleven stand of colours, as trophies of 
the conquest, were presented to the sovereign, and then solemnly 



222 HISTORY OF CANADA'. 

dejjosited in St. Paul's Cathedral. The inhabitants of Louis- 
burg v/cre conveyed to France, and the garrison and sailors, 
over five thousand in number, were sent prisoners to England. 
TIio fortress, constructed at such cost, and assailed and defended 
with such valour, soon fell into utter ruin. "Where giant navies, 
rode, and earth-shaldng war achieved such vast exploits, to-day 
the peaceful waters of the placid bay kiss the deserted strand,' 
and a small fishing hamlet and a few mouldering ruin-mounds! 
mark the grave of so much military pomp, and power, and 
glory. 

After the reduction of Louisburg, "Wolfe was despatched upon 
the uncongenial task of destroying the French settlements at 
Miramichi, the Bay of Chaleurs, Gasp6, and the lower St. 
Lawrence. This stern military necessity, as it was conceived 
to be, was promptly executed. All the Acadian villages were 
laid in ruins, and hundreds of their inhabitants were made 
prisoners, or driven from their devastated homes, to find refuge 
in the wilderness. The intendant of Mont Louis, a flourishing 
fishing station, offered a ransom of one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand livres, if the village and the property of the inhabitants 
should be spared ; but a stern retaliation for ravages on English! 
territory, and the resolve to jjrevent, as far as possible, the 
revictualling of Quebec, consigned immense stores of grain 
and fish to the flames. Similar destruction of public and 
private property, took place on the -Bay of Fundy, and on the 
Eiver St. John. It is one of the terrible retributions of war, ' 
that even the chivalric nature of Wolfe was unable to divest of 
its harshness a movement by which so many innocent persons 
were made to suflfer for their fidelity to their country, and their 
rightful sovereign. 

The victory of Louisburg was soon followed by a terrible 
defeat. In the month of June, the largest army ever yet seen 
on the American continent, was assembled at Albany, under 
the command of Lord Abercrombie. It was composed of a 
strong force of royal artillery, six thousand three hundred and 
fifty regular troops, and nine thousand provincial militia. The 
object of the expedition was the destruction of Ticondcroga 




CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 223 

and Crown Point. The formidable force reached Lake Georire 

o 

without misadventure, and encamped on the ground still en- 
cumljcred by the blackened ruins of Fort William Henry. 

On a brilliant July morning, the fifth day 
of the month, the whole force embarked 
in over a thousand barges and batteaux, 
and in bannered pomp and splendour, with 
blare of music, flash of oars, and gleam of 
arms, sailed down the lovely lake, accom- 
panied by a number of rafts, armed with 
artillery, designed to overcome any oppo- 
sition to their landing. As night fell, the 
army debarked and encamped for a few general abercrombie. 
hours, amid the picturesque loveliness of Sabbath-day Point. 
At midnight they hastily re-embarked, leaving the bivouac fires 
brightly burning, in order to deceive the watchful scouts of the 
enemy. At five o'clock in the morning, they reached the nar- 
roAvs, where Ticonderoga, or Carillon, as the French called it, 
guarded the entrance to the river, leading to Lake Champlain. 
The British advance-guard, of two thousand men, under 
General Bradstreet, landed without opposition, and,the whole 
army soon followed ; and began to advance in four columns. 
"These peoj)le march carefully," said Montcalm, who was soon 
informed of their movement; *'but if they give me time to 
occupy the position I have chosen, on the heights of Carillon, I 
will beat them." The British columns soon became entan^-led 
in the forest, and suddenly the right wing, under Lord Howe, 
came upon a detachment of three hundred French, who had 
also lost their way. A sharp skirmish ensued, in which the 
French were nearly all captured or killed, but almost at the 
first fire, the young and gallant Lord Howe, the favourite of 
the army, fell at the head of his column. All energy and 
spirit seemed to pass away from the expedition, with his death. 
He hud judiciously trained his troops in the tactics necessary 
for the rugged service of forest warfare, and had cheerfully 
endured the same privations and fatigue that were encountered 
by the private soldiers. 



224 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

That niglit the army bivouacked upon the scene of the conflict, 
and the next day Abercrombie, who seems to have completely 
lost his head, ordered a retreat to the point of embarkation. 
Bradstreet, however, with a strong force, was sent forward to 
occupy a position at some saw-mills, within two miles of Mont- 
calm's lines, where he was joined by the bulk of the army. 
Montcalm, who had with him nearly four thousand of his best 
troops, had strengthened a naturally formidable position by an 
earthwork, half a mile in front of the fort, before which, for a 
hundred yards, sloped a steep glacis, covered with an impen- 
etrable abattis of felled trees, the sharpened stakes pointing 
outward. Both ends of this line could have been turned with 
slight difficulty, as Montcalm had been unable to complete his 
design of covering his flanks by entrenchments. This fact, 
however, was not discovered till too late. 

Early on the morning of the 8th of June, Abercrombie 
reconnoitred this position, and fearing the re-enforcement of 
the enemy, rashly resolved on an attack in column, without 
waiting for cannon. The assault was gallantly made. For 
nearly six hours, under a burning sun, again and again the 
columns were hurled against the terrible abattis, and as often 
staggered and recoiled, before a withering point-blank fire of 
cannon and musketry. The brave Highlanders especially, — 
lithe, active, and lightly clad, — hacked their way through with 
their claymores, or clambered over the abattis, and many of 
them died on the very ramparts of Montcalm's entrenchments. 
That gallant officer, by reckless daring and personal exposure, 
animated his men, while the British general issued his ill-judged 
commands, leading only to disaster and defeat, from a safe 
distance in the rear. Upon a rude barrier, which the artillery, 
close at hand, could have swept away in an hour, the flower of 
the British troops were sacrificed, through the incompetence, 
obstinacy, and presumption of their general. Baffled and 
broken, with the loss of two thousand men, the more than 
decimated army retreated panic-stricken to their batteaux, and 
speedily placed the length of the lake between them and the 
victorious enemy. Abercrombie, bitterly chagrined, threw up!. 



CAMPAIGN'S OF 175S AND 1759. 225 

an entrenched camp on the site of Fort "William Heniy, and sent 
his artillery to Albany, and thence to Xe^v York, for safety. 
The loss of the French was three hundred and seventy-six 
killed and wounded. Montcalm modestly wrote to Yaudrueil : 
"The only credit I can claim, is the glory of commanding 
such valorous troops. The success of the affair is due to the 
incredible bravery of both officers and men." Without detract- 
ing from the valour of the French, who fought under cover, 
althouofh asfainst jrreat odds, we think that of the British 
troops, marching unfalteringly to death, against that terrible 
abattis, and under an iron hail, was still more heroic. 

The disgTace of this disaster was partly retrieved, a few 
weeks later, by the capture of Fort Frontenac, the French 
naval depot at the foot of Lake Ontario, by General Bradstreet. 
With twenty-eight hundred men he advanced, by way of the 
Mohawk and Oswego, and crossing the lake in open boats, 
invested the fort, which was guarded by only one hundred and 
sixty men. After two days' bombardment it surrendered, and 
was burned to the ground, together with an immense quantity 
of stores, and seven armed vessels. Thus, without the loss of 
a man, was destroyed the French naval supremacy on Lake 
Ontario. The loss of the stores seriously crippled the opera- 
tions of the French, by preventing the replenishment with 
supplies of the "V\'e stern forts. Yaudreuil ungenerously en- 
deavoured to exculpate himself for his neglect to re-enforce 
Fort Frontenac, by laying the blame of its surrender upon De 
Xoyau, its commandant. 

The French, meanwhile, harassed the outposts of Aber- 
crombic's army, and cut off stragglers and convoys. Li the 
month of July, they surprised and massacred, near Fort Edward, 
two bodies of provincials and wagoners, numbering over a 
hundred and fifty men. !Major Eogers, already famous in 
border warfare, was dispatched with seven hundred men to 
punish the marauders.- His force was soon reduced by hard- 
ships and desertions, to five hundred, when he encountered a 
body of the enemy, of about equal strength. A fierce contlict 
ensued, in which the French were soundly beaten, leaving a 
29 



226 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

hundred and ninety men, dead or wounded, on tlie field. The 
loss to the British amounted to forty men. 

In order to maintain communication with Lake Ontario, by 
way of the Mohawk Eiver, and to confirm the Iroquois in their 
allegiance, Brigadier-General Stanwix was despatched, with a 
strong force, to construct a fort at the portage between the 
Mohawk and Oneida Lake. This important, but unostentatious 
service, he successfully accomplished, and the ruins of the fort 
which he built, whose site is now occupied by the town of 
Kome, still bear his name. 

In the West, General Forbes, with a force of fifteen hundred 
regulars, and five thousand provincial militia, advanced against 
Fort Du Quesne. Stricken with mortal illness, he was borne, 
a dying man, across the Alleghanies in a litter. When he had 
arrived within ninety miles of Lu Quesne, Forbes dispatched 
Colonel Bouquet, with two thousand men, to take post at Eoyal 
Hanna, while the main army labouriously constructed a new 
road through the wilderness, avoiding the ill-fated route, by 
which Braddock had marched to his death. Bouquet, fired 
with military ambition, detached Major Grant, with a force of 
eight hundred Highlanders, and a company of Virginia militia- 
men, to reconnoitre the fort. Grant, deceived as to the strength 
of the garrison, divided his troops so as to form an ambuscade, 
and at daybreak, on the 14th of September, beat a march on 
his drums as a challenge to the enemy. The French, who had 
been re-enforced, and were now superior in number to the 
assailants, poured forth, with their Indian allies and beat, in 
detail, the separate divisions of Grant's troops, capturing three 
hundred of the Highlanders, together with their commander. 

Forbes advanced with the main body of the army, as fast as 
the difficult nature of the country would permit, but not till 
the 5th of November, did he effect a jiuiction with Bouquet, at 
Eoyal Hanna. The season being so far advanced, it was at 
first determined to proceed no further ; but intelligence being 
received of the weakness of the fort, it was resolved to press 
on. Colonel Washington commanded the advance-guard. In- 
fusing his own energy into his troops, although they were 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 227 

ill-fed and ill-clothed, he conducted them through fifty miles 
of wilderness, over hills already white with snow. The French 
commandant, being disappointed in receiving military stores, 
in consequence of the fall of Fort Frontenac, fired the works, 
and by the light of the conflagration, the disheartened garrison, 
five hundred iu number, retreated down the Ohio. On the 25th 
of November, Washhigtou had the honour of planting the red- 
cross flag on the ramparts of Foi-t Pitt, as it was thenceforth 
called. The name of the Great Commoner is inscribed forever 
on the gateway of the Ohio valley, in the designation of the 
city of Pittsburg, which occupies the site — of disastrous 
memory — of Fort Du Quesne. 

This event closed the campaign for the year 1758. Never- 
theless, the toils were gathering around the doomed colony of 
Canada. A fervent appeal was made to the mother country for 
assistance. But the exhaustion produced by the European Avar, 
and by the prodigality of the court, jjrevented the sending of 
re-enforcements. " When the house is on fire," said the min- 
ister, "one does not mind the stables." The colonists rallied 
for a supreme effort for the defence of their hearths and homes. 
Famine stared them in the face. The half-tilled acres brought 
forth but meagre crops, and the shameless exactions of Bigot 
were more grinding than ever. The entire population, from 
sixteen to sixty, was summoned to the field, but though every 
sixth soul in the colony responded, they mustered only fifteen 
thousand, of whom many were unavailable for service. The 
chief dependence was upon ten skeleton regiments of regulars, 
in which ghastly gaps were worn by siege and sortie, by famine 
and disease. To these the British opposed fifty thousand well- 
armed troops, and copious reserves. The French clergy ex- 
horted the people to repentance and increased religious devo- 
tion, and invoked the aid of Heaven as their only succour. 
Differences of opinion arose, too, between Montcalm and Vau- 
dreuil, the Governor, as to the plans of defence. The former 
desired his recall, but at the command of duty remained, to lay 
his life an offering upon the altar of his country. " Canada 
must be taken in this or the next campaign," he wrote, with a 



228 nisTORT OF Canada. 

prescience of approaching destiny, "without unexpected good 
fortune, or great fault of the enemy." Yet, he relaxed no 
effort for the securing of victory ; but rather redoubled his 
diligence in preparing for the mevitable struggle. Stores of 
provisions and military materiel were collected at the j)rincipal 
strategic points. The fortifications were strengthened, and 
vessels were constructed for maintaining the control of Lake 
Chami^lain. 

On the part of Great Britain, tremendous efforts were made 
for what was felt to be the supreme struggle with the French 
jDower in America. England, like a rampant lion, was rousing 
herself for conquest. The House of Commons voted £12,- 
000,000 sterling for the campaign of 1759. Pitt infused his 
owii spirit into every branch of the service. The world was 
ringing w^ith British victories. In India, a merchant's clerk, 
with a handful of men, hud conquered an emi^ire, where the 
foot of Alexander had faltered. Senegal, Goree, Guadaloupe, 
her fairest tropical possessions, were wrested from France. 
On the bloody plain of Minden, her choicest troops were 
crushed before the British lines. At Quiberon Bay, her fleet, 
destined for the invasion of England, was shattered by the 
gallant Hawke. Alike on the banks of the Ganges, and on the 
banks of the Ohio, on the forts of the Gold Coast, and on the 
ramparts of Louisburg, the red-cross banner waved triumph- 
antly, and it was destined soon to crown the heights of Quebec. 
In the Indian Seas, on the Spanish Main, on the Atlantic, and 
on the Pacific, Britain's fleets were every^vhere victorious. 

Pitt chose his instruments well. With the instinct of genius, 
he discerned the surpassing merit of the young hero of Louis- 
burg, and entrusted to him the conquest of Quebec. "Wolfe 
was bom in the village of Westerham, in Kent. His military 
instincts were hereditary, his father having served with distinc- 
tion in the continental wars of Marlborough. Though only 
thirty-three years of age when assigned the task which he 
accomplished at the cost of his life, Wolfe was already a veteran 
soldier, having been eighteen years in the army. At twenty- 
two, he was a lieutenant-colonel, and at Dettingen, Fontenoy, 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 



229 




and Culloden, by his almost reckless bravery, he had won dis- 
tinguished honours. Though raised so rapidly to the rank of 
general, even envy breathed no word of detraction against his 
name, and he commanded the love and admiration of the entire 
army. " Wolfe," says an accurate description of his person 
and character, "was a plain man. His 
features were sharp, his forehead some- 
what receding, his hair sandy, or red, 
and, contrary to the fashion of the time, 
was not powdered. His skin was coarse, 
fair, and freckled ; but his mouth wore 
a smiling and gentle expression, and his 
eyes were blue and benignant. He was 
delicate from early youth, and the seeds 
of fatal disease were implanted in his 
constitution. At first his address and wolfe. 

manner were unengaging, but he invariably endeared himself 
to all with whom he became fimiiliar. All his thoughts and 
actions were influenced by deep religious feeling. He was 
assiduously and conscientiously attentive to his profession, and 
was constitutionally and steadily daring. His mind was clear 
and active, his temper lively and almost impetuous. He was 
independent without pride, and generous to profusion. His 
disposition was candid, constant, and sincere. His letters 
breathed a spirit of tenderness and gentleness, over which 
ambition could not triumph." Such is the attractive portrait 
painted of Canada's darling hero, the conqueror of Quebec. 

To Amherst, who superseded Abercrombie as commander-in- 
chief, was assigned the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point, and the capture of Montreal ; and to Prideaux, the 
destruction of Fort Niagara. These various movements were 
sustained by forces amounting to twenty-five thousand men, 
which were to concentrate at Quebec for the last act of the 
drama. 

The French had rebuilt Fort Frontenac, strengthened the 
garrison at Niagara, and occupied the passes of Carillon and 
the St. Lawrence. Bourlemaque, an accomplished officer, was 



230 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 




to hold the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, as long as 
possible ; but if overpowered, he was to retire to Isle-aux-Noix, 
at the head of Lake Champlain, and there, aided by the ship- 
ping, to prevent, by his utmost efforts, the advance of Amherst's 
forces to join the army of Wolfe, which was expected to attack 
Quebec. The Chevalier de la Come entrenched himself above 
Montreal, with eight hundred regulars and militia, to resist any 
atterhpt to descend the St. Lawrence, by a British force from 
the lakes. The diminished forces of the French were to act 
strictly on the defensive, retiring, in case of defeat, on Quebec, 
where the final stand was to be made. 

The first blow fell on Niagara. General 
Prideaux, with four thousand regulars and 
militia, and a large body of Iroquois, under 
Sir William Johnson, advanced, by way of 
the Mohawk and Oswego, to Lake On- 
tario. Leaving a force of occupation at 
Oswego, he advanced in many batteaux to 
Niagara, and early in July, 1758, invested 
the fort situated at the mouth of the river, 
which was garrisoned by about six hundred men. Trenches 
were opened and daily pushed nearer the works, and a brisk 
fire was kept up ; but General Prideaux, being killed by 
the bursting of a mortar, the command devolved on Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson. M. Pouchot, the French commandant, had 
summoned to his aid the garrisons of Detroit, Presque Isle, and 
the Western forts. His defensive works were almost destroyed, 
and the bastions were strengthened with packages of peltries. 
The fire of the British increased in violence, and the garrison 
was almost exhausted by incessant and harassing service ; and 
was greatly reduced by deaths. Meanwhile, M. D'Aubrey was 
hastening to the relief of the beleaguered fort, with a force of 
twelve hundred Frenchmen and fourteen hundred Indians. Sir 
William Johnson, who, through the vigilance of his scouts, 
was informed of their approach, made preparations for their 
reception. Leaving a sufficient force in the trenches to keep 
up the bombardment, and to resist any sortie that might be 



FORT NIAGARA. 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 231 

made from the fort, he led the bulk of his army to inter- 
cept the re-enforcements of the enemy. A strong force he 
concealed behind a rampart of felled trees, to the left of the 
road leading to the Falls, by which D' Aubrey must approach ; 
while the advance guard was strongly posted in the woods. 
The French were at no great distance, and thus the two armies 
bivouacked, that warm midsummer night, which was to many, 
on both sides, their last on earth. 

On the morning of July 24th, the leading files of the French 
were seen advancing through the woods, supported by large 
bodies of Indians. The British outposts fell back steadily on 
their reserves. Sir William Johnson's Iroquois warriors at- 
tempted to parley with the Indian allies of the French, and to 
prevent them from engaging in the conflict, but without success. 
D' Aubrey now brought up the main body of his force, and 
prepared for the engagement, on which depended the control 
of the great lakes, the Ohio valley, and the far "West. The 
Indian allies of the French rushed to the attack with the 
utmost impetuosity, yelling their terrible war-whoop. But it 
no longer caused such dismay, as when it struck terror to the 
hearts of Braddock's grenadiers. The English lines stood 
firm as on a dress-parade, and with a few steady volleys, not 
only withstood the fierce onset, but so completely swept away 
their Indian assailants, that they rallied no more, but fled 
panic-stricken through the woods. The Iroquois now fell on 
the flanks of D' Aubrey's command, and the British veterans 
rushed to .the charge with resistless force. The French, out- 
numbered, abandoned by their allies, and attacked on all sides, 
broke into precipitous flight, and were pursued by the Iroquois, 
eager as hounds slipped from the leash, for the congenial task 
of ruthless slaughter, and the forest glades were filled with 
dead or dying men. 

M. Pouchot, with his beleaguered garrison, had awaited with 
the utmost anxiety the result of the conflict, the distant sounds 
of which were borne to their ears. With D' Aubrey's defeat, 
the last hope of succour disappeared. All the honours of war 
were granted to the garrison, which had made such a gallant 



232 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

defence, and at midday, on the 26th of July, with colours 
flying, drums beating, and bayonets fixed, they marched out 
of the crumbling fort, and laid down their arms on the shores 
of the neighbouring lake. They were conveyed as prisoners 
to New York, and the women and non-combatants were sent 
safely to France. The control of the great lakes passed away 
from the French forever, and General Bouquet speedily re- 
duced all the "Western forts, except that of Detroit which, for 
sometime longer, continued to hold out against the British. 

During the same month of July, an attempt was made by 
M. de la Corne, with a force of nearly two thousand French 
and Indians, to capture, by surprise, the British fort at Oswego. 
The vigilance of Colonel Ilaviland, the officer in command, 
however, frustrated that design, and the assailants were driven 
off with severe loss. 

The chief command of the British forces 
in America, had been assigned, as we have 
seen, to General Amherst. The movements 
of that officer must now engage our atten- 
tion. Early in May, he reached Albany, 
the appointed rendezvous for the provincial 
and regular troops. The whole month was 
LORD AMHERST, employed in organizing and drilling the colo- 
nial regiments, and constructing boats for their transport on 
Lake George. An epidemic of desertion among the troops, 
threatened seriously to cripple the efficiency of the army. Even 
the infliction of the death-penalty on four of the deserters, by 
sentence of court-martial, did not altogether prevent this un- 
soldierly conduct. 

The French continued to harass the English colonists, by 
scouting-parties, composed largely of blood-thirsty savages, 
who murdered and scalped men, women, and children indis- 
criminately. To prevent these outrages, General Amherst 
forwarded a dispatch to the Governor of Canada, to the efiect 
that he was determmed, " should the enemy continue to murder 
and scalp women and children, who are the subjects of the 
King of Great Britain, to revenge it by the death of two men 




CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AXD 1759. 233 

of the enemy, for every woman or child murdered by them." 
The barbarizing effects of the employment of Indian allies in 
this cruel war, was felt by both nations. Even civilized men, 
both French and English, acquired a fatal dexterity in the 
savage practice of tearing the reeking scalps from the skulls 
of their victims, as the proof of victory. Not only were men 
in arms and bastioned foi-ts the objects of attack, but helpless 
non-combatants were ruthlessly slain, and peaceful hamlets and 
smiling cornfields were given to the flames. And over these 
scenes of slaughter and desolation, waved the lilied flag of 
France, or the red-cross banner of Britain, in sanction of the 
unchristian and unnatural strife. It is a crimson page in our 
country's history, the like of which, let us hope, shall never 
more be seen. 

On the longest day in the month of June, General Amherst, 
with the bulk of his army, numbering about six thousand men, 
of all arms, advanced from Fort Edward to Lake George. 
Here, on the ruins of Fort William Henry, the general con- 
structed a small fortification, to which was given the name of 
Fort George. Another month was employed in bringing up 
additional troops, stores, boats, and materiel of war, and in 
preparing a floating battery on the lake. Frequent skirmishes 
took place with the French and Indians, generally resulting in 
loss to the British. 

On the 21st of July, the army, numbering over eleven thou- 
sand, about equally divided as regulars and colonial militia, 
with a strong force of artillery, advanced in four columns down 
the lake. Mindful of Abercrombie's disaster, Amherst observed 
exceeding caution on approaching Carillon. A brief skirmish 
with the enemy took place, after landing, in which the French 
gave way, and the British took up a strong position at the 
saw-mills, memorable in Abercrombie's defeat. But the genius 
of Montcalm was absent, and De Bourlemaque, abandoning the 
lines, crowned with the victory of the previous year, retired 
within the fort, which was garrisoned with three thousand four 
hundred men. The British grenadiers immediately occupied 
the deserted lines, and the rest of the army encamped in the 
30 



234 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

rear. From the fort, the French kept up a strong fire on the 
position of the British, but the latter were completely sheltered 
by the breastworks thrown up by the enemy for their own 
defence. Perceiving that Fort Carillon was no longer tenable 
against the superior force and steady determination of the British, 
Bourlemaque resolved to abandon it. He therefore silently 
withdrew his garrison to Fort Frederick, at Crown Point, leaving 
four hundred men to keep the foe at bay as long as possible. 

In order the better to mask the retreat, this gallant little 
band made a vigorous sortie, and attacked the besiegers in the 
advanced line of trenches, and for three days longer held in 
check an army of eleven thousand men. Having obtained the 
range of the British camp, their active fire did considerable 
damage. Among others, Colonel Townshend, ' ' the Lord Howe 
of Amherst's army," was killed by a cannon shot in the trenches. 
Late, on the night of July 26th, a deserter from the French 
informed the besiegers that the fort was completely abandoned, 
having been previously mined, and the magazine and double- 
shotted guns connected with a lighted fuse. A tremendous 
explosion, shaking the ground like an earthquake, confirmed 
the story, and a volcano of fire and burning embers illumined 
the midnight heavens. The barracks, stores, and wooden 
ramparts now caught fire, and their lurid blaze, with the flash 
of exploding cannon, made luminous the forest, far and near. 

Amherst promptly occupied the smoking ruins, extinguished 
the flames, and set vigorously to work to rejjair the defensive 
works of the fort. Having secured his position, he sent a force 
to reconnoitre, and feel the strength of the enemy at Fort 
Frederick ; but it was found to have been already abandoned. 
Amherst, with the main body of his army, soon took possession, 
and wasted much time in the construction of a new fort, which 
the conquest of Canada would render useless, to which the 
name of Crown Point was given. Thus, at last, was secured, 
with a comparatively slight loss, the strongholds which com- 
manded the gateway of Canada, the attempt to reduce which 
had proved so disastrous to Abercrombie, with a much superior 
force. The British expended on the reconstruction of these 



CAMPAIGNS OF 1758 AND 1759. 



235 




forts the enormous sum, for those days, of £200,000. Their 
ravelins and demilunes, curtains and casemates have lonff 
since crumbled to de- 
cay. The summer 
tourist, wandering 
amid their grass- 
grown trenches and 
ramparts, beholds 
slight trace of thoso 
deeds of violence and 
blood of which they 
were the scene. 

Bourlemaque had 
taken up a strono' kthns of ticonderoga. 

position at Isle-aux-Noix, at the northern end of Lake Cham- 
plain, commanding the navigation of the Eichelieu Eiver. 
Here, he strongly entrenched himself, and determined to hold 
his position to the last extremity, and to prevent the advance 
of Amherst to the St. Lawrence. He mustered a force of three 
thousand five hundred men, and the possession of four well- 
armed and well-manned vessels, gave him the command of 
Lake Champlain. Amherst, more cautious than enterprising, 
instead of attempting to force the position of Bourlemaque, 
spent the summer in constructing vessels to cope with the little 
French fleet upon the lake. AVhen at length the vessels and 
a floating battery were ready, it was the middle of October. 
Several inefi(ectual naval skirmishes with the enemy took place 
on the unfamiliar waters of the lake, resulting in the beaching 
of several vessels of both fleets. 

The bleak storms of autumn now prevented further active 
operations. The army, held in check on the very threshold of 
Canada, was compelled to go into winter quarters at Crown Point. 
Similar tardiness characterized the action of General Gage, 
who had superseded Sir William Johnson, in command of 
Prideaux's army, after the victory of Fort Niagara. He had 
been ordered by Amherst to make a demonstration from Oswego 
against La Presentation (Ogdensburg), where the French had 



236 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

established a strong post. The difficulties of the undertaking 
were considerable, but instead of making a vigorous effort to 
overcome them, he allowed the harvest-time of opportunity to 
pass by unimproved, and the reduction of the post did not take 
place till the following year. 

One of the most daring and difficult exploits executed during 
this campaign, was Major Eogers' expedition against the In- 
dians on Lake St. Francis. These Indians had detained as 
prisoners, an English officer and his party, who had been sent 
with a flag of truce to convey a proffer of amity and alliance, 
from General Amherst. Early in October, Major Eogers set 
out from Crown Point, with two hundred men, to punish the 
perfidy of this tribe. His route lay through a tangled and 
almost impenetrable wilderness. The hardships and privations 
of the three weeks' march, reduced the force by more than one- 
fourth. At length they came, undiscovered, upon the object of 
their search. The Indians were engaged in one of their glutton 
feasts and war-dances. When sunk in the profound torpor 
that follows these excesses, the British soldiers burst upon the 
sleepers, and scarce one of the savage warriors escaped. Two 
hundred were slain, and the English captives were rescued from 
slavery. In the meanwhile, a party of Frenchmen, superior 
in numbers, captured the boats of the English, and threatened 
to cut off their retreat. Eogers' only plan of escape was to 
break up his force into small parties, which should retrace their 
way as best they could through the wilderness of mountains 
and forests, to the English settlements. They suffered in- 
credible hardships in the attempt. They were reduced to the 
utmost extremity of privation. They devoured the leather 
straps and covers of their cartouch-boxes. They were at one 
time four days without food. Many perished of hunger, others 
went crazed with suffering and despair, and even devoured, in 
their frenzy, the flesh of some of their murdered companions, 
cut off by the Indians. At length, in the bleak November 
weather, looking more like spectres than like human beings, 
they reached the abode of civilized men. Such was one of 
the tragic episodes of the conquest of Canada. 



CONQUEST OF CANADA, 237 



CHAPTEE XVm. 

THE CONQUEST OF CANADA, 1759-1760. 

The Expedition against Quebec — Wolfe occupies the Island of Orleans — Mid- 
night Alarm — The Fire-rafts— Point Levi occupied — The Siege opened— 
Straits of the Inhabitants — Heights of Montmorenci occupied — Wolfe and 
Admu-al Rons above Quebec — The Attack at Montmorenci — Terrific Can- 
nonade—A gallant Assault and disastrous Defeat — Wolfe's Illness— An 
audacious Design — The Eve of the Battle— The British gain the Heights 
above Quebec — The Battle of the Plains of Abraham — The Death of Wolfe 
and Montcalm — British Occupation of Quebec— A severe Winter — De Levi 
attempts the Eecapture of Quebec — Battle of Ste. Foye — French Siege of 
Quebec — English Fleet arrives — Siege raised — Amherst's advance down 
the St. Lawrence — Capture of La Presentation — Disaster at Cedar Eapids 
— Surrender of Montreal and Capitulation of Canada. 

THE last act of this historic drama, the conquest of Quebec, 
must now be described. Simultaneously with the opera- 
tions of Prideaux and Amherst upon the outposts of it59. 
Canada, Wolfe was attacking its heart and menacing its very- 
life. About the middle of February, a powerful British fleet 
of twenty-two ships of the line, five frigates, nineteen smaller 
vessels, and a crowd of transports, under the command of 
Admiral Saunders, a brave and judicious officer, sailed from 
England for the St. Lawrence. Louisburg was the appointed 
place of rendezvous, but on account of the ice the fleet was 
compelled for some time to take refuge in the safe and commo- 
dious harbour of Halifax. Admiral Durell was despatched "udth 
a small squadron to intercept an expected convoy of provi- 
sion and store ships destined for the relief of Quebec. He was 
only pai-tially successful, capturing two vessels, but with them, 
the important prize of French charts of the St. Lawrence, 
which were of great service to the British fleet in the somewhat 
difficult navigation of the river. 

It was not till the first week in June that Saunders' fleet 
cleared from Louisburg, convejdng a force of eight thousand 
regular troops under the command of Wolfe. On the twenty- 



I:ov5 



mSTORT OF CiXJDA. 



fiftli of the month he anchored off the Island of Orleans, a 
short distance below Quebec. The French had relied much on 
the dangerous passage of '*the Traverse," as impeding the 
progress of the fleet ; but, by means of the charts and careful 
soundings, it was safely overcome. Durell, who led the 
van. carried French coloui's at his masthead till he reached 
Bic. in order to prevent op]30sition from the habifans. Pilots 
hastened on board to offer their assistance, and messengers 
were despatched to Quebec conve^'ing intelligence of the anivrJ 
of anticipated succours from France. Great was the disap- 
pointment when the union-jack was run up to the peak. 
It is said that a Canadian priest, who was watching the vessels 
through a telescope, was so overwhelmed with the mental shock 
that he instantly fell down dead. As the snowy sails of the 
hostile fleet were seen roimding the Island of Orleans, the in- 
habitants of Quebec thronged the churches to offer up their 
prayers for the preservation of their country. The British 
troops promptly occupied the fair and fertile island, with whose 




CITT OF QITEBEC. 

loveliness they were delighted, after their long confinement on 
shipboard. 

TTolfe hastened to the upper end of the island to get his first 
view of Quebec. Before him rose the rock)- height, crowned 



COXQUEST OF CAXADA. 239 

vr'ith. massy walls and ramparts, and bristling witli gims, — the 
Ehrenbreitstein or Gibraltar of America, and one of the stron- 
gest natural positions in the world. 

As he viewed the steep escarpment and the frowning batteries 
that lined the river-front, the position of the French seemed 
almost impregnable. IMontcalm had strongly fortified with 
redoubts and earthworks the precipitous banks, from Cape 
Eouge, eight miles above Quebec, to Montmorenci, as far 
below, and had mustered a force of some thirteen thousand men 
of every age, from boys of thirteen to veterans of eighty. De 
Bougainville* commanded the riirht wim? of the armv to the 
west of the city, De Levi the left on the extreme east, and 
Montcalm held the centre with the bulk of the army, while 
Indians scoured the woods on the flanks and in the rear. A 
strong boom, sunken ships and floating batteries, closed the 
mouth of the St. Charles ; and shoal water and mud-flats, along 
the Beauport shore, made landing almost impossible. 

'\"\Tiile AVolfe was gazing on the fortress whose conquest was 
to give him an early grave and undying fame, a violent thun- 
der-storm burst over his head, and a hurricane swept over the 
river. Some of the transports dragged their anchors, and were 
driven ashore. The ships of war, with difficulty, kept their 
moorings, and several of their boats were swamped. 

As the storm passed away, night came on, still and dark and 
starless. At midnight, as the British sentries paced their round 
on the rocky shores of the island, they noticed certain dark 
objects drifting down the river with the ebbing tide. It was 
soon apparent that they were six fire-ships, prepared by Mont- 
calm for the destruction of the British fleet. T^Tiile the sentries 
gazed on these strange objects, a deadly exj^losion of artillery 
flashed from their black hulks, crashed among the trees, and 
ploughed seething furrows in the water. SheEs and gi'enades 
burst in the vicinity of the astonished guard. Falling back on 

* It is a some^liat curious coincidence that James Cook, tlie distinguislied 
navigator, and Bougainville, the first French circumnavigator of the globe, 
Trere engaged in the service of their respective countries in this memorahle 
siege. 



240 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

tlieir supiiorts they became inextricably confused in the woods. 
The roll of drums roused the sleeping camp, and the soldiers, 
anticipating an attack of the enemy in force, turned out under 
arms. 

Meanwhile, the fire-ships had burst into a blaze, the bright 
red flames leaping from shroud to shroud, defining in tracery of 
fire, each rope and spar, against the sable sky, and waving in 
broad banners from the burning sails and masts. The rushing 
river, the silent fleet, the English camp, the distant city were 
lit up almost as with the light of day. As the flames spread, 
with a burst like thunder, vessel after vessel exploded, and 
drifted i)erilously near the anchored fleet. As the burning 
T\Tecks approached, boats, well-manned by British tars grap- 
j)lcd them with iron hooks and towed them ashore, or sent them 
drifting harmlessly down the river. But for the premature 
exjolosion of the fire-ships serious damage might have been 
done the British fleet by this well-planned attack. The panic 
in the camp did not yield to the usual order and confidence, till 
daylight showed that no enemy was near. 

Wolfe now issued a proclamation to the people of Canada, 
ofiering safety of person and property and freedom in religion, 
and enjoining strict neutrality on civilians. It proved, how- 
ever, of little avail, as the French clergy exhorted their parish- 
ioners to resist to the utmost the invaders, as the enemies both 
of their religion and their race. Montcalm also commanded 
their services under penalty of death. They, with their Indian 
allies, proved only too skilful adepts in the art of forest war- 
fare, and in cutting ofi" stragglers, murdering and scalping the 
wounded, and mutilating the dead. In vain Wolfe remon- 
strated against these barbarities. In retaliation, therefore, and 
as a measure of military necessity, we must suppose, — for he 
was a man of humane instincts, — he ravaged the country and 
burned the villages both above and below Quebec. He for- 
bade, however, personal violence to prisoners and non-comba- 
tants, on pain of death. 

Admiral Saunders had been taught by the storm that the 
anchorage ofi' the Island of Orleans was by no means safe, and 



COXQUEST OF CANADA. 



241 



resolved to move his fleet into the basin in front of Point Levi. 
Brigadier-General INIonckton, with a strong force, was, there- 
fore, ordered to take possession of Point Levi, a somewhat 
strong position, which had 




been occupied by the 
French. The advance- 
<mard landed after sli2:ht 
resistance, and pursued a 
small body of the enemy 
as far as a large farm- 
house, where the English 
soldiers halted for rest siege of quebec, 1759. 

and refreshment. Before retiring on their main body, they 
fired the farm-house, and were startled to hear, amid the flames, 
the cries of women and children who, at the approach of the 
troops, had taken refuge in a cellar. The horror-stricken 
soldiers laboured strenuously to rescue the sufierers, but in 
vain. The roof fell in with a crash, and put an end to this 
dreadful tragedy. Such are some of the terrible episodes of 
war. A thousand Canadian militia and Indians now threw 
themselves into the church and houses of the village, and were, 
with much difficulty, dislodged by the British. 

Li the capture of Point Levi, "VYolfe obtained an impor- 
tant advantage, as it gave the opportunity of planting bat- 
teries within three-quarters of a mile of tke city. IMontcalm 
was deeply chagrined at the loss of this position. He had 
urged that it should be defended to the last extremity by an 
entrenched force of four thousand men, but had been over- 
ruled by Vaudreuil, the Governor. An attempt was made to 
dislodge the British by means of floating batteries, but it proved 
futile. Wolfe planted strong batteries at Point Levi, and on 
the Island of Orleans, which completely secured the safety of 
the British fleet in the basin. From this commanding position, 
during the month of July, such an incessant and heavy fire 
was poured into the doomed city, that conflagrations were of 
almost daily occurrence, and soon the greater part of both 
Upper and Lower Town was in ruins. No less than five hun- 
31 



242 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

dred buildings, including the cathedral and principal edifices, 
were destroyed. Many persons were killed in the streets, and 
non-combatants were forced to retire for safety into the coun- 
try. The beleaguered city was reduced to the severest straits. 
" "We are without hope, and without food," said an intercepted 
letter ; " God hath forsaken us." Such are the tender mercies 
of war, even between two chivalric nations, and conducted by 
two generous commanders. 

On the 9th of July, under cover of a cannonade of Mont- 
calm's lines by the fleet, Wolfe crossed with the main body of 
his army from the Island of Orleans to the north shore, and 
formed a camp on the eastern bank of the Montmorenci. His 
plan was to force the enemy's lines, and bring on an engage- 
ment, in which he believed that the disciplined skill of his 
veteran troops would be more than a match for the superior 
numbers of the French. But the rapid current of the Mont- 
morenci, rushing tumultuously over its rocky bed, presented no 
fordable place for several miles inland, and the Indian scouts 
of the French, with disastrous success, cut off and scalped the 
reconnoitering parties of the English. 

An attempt was made by one of Montcalm's officers, with 
eighteen hundred French and Indians, to recapture Point Levi 
in a night attack ; but, amid the darkness, the assailants fell 
into confusion, and fired into each other's ranks, causing a loss 
of seventy men. 

Finding his efforts to break the French lines on their eastern 
wing completely unavailing, "Wolfe determined to reconnoitre 
the river above the town. To facilitate this purpose. Captain 
Rous, toward midnight, on the 18th of July, aided by the 
flood-tide and a favouring wind, succeeded in passing the 
enemy's batteries with a small squadron, without being discov- 
ered till it was too late to bring the guns to bear. As a warn- 
ing against similar carelessness, two of the unvigilant sentinels 
were the next day hanged on a lofty gibbet. The following 
day, Wolfe and Saunders ran the gauatlet of the batteries. By 
hugging the southern shore their barge escaped with the loss of 
a mast. The aspect of the frowning cliff, bristling at every 



CONQUEST OF CAXADA. 243 

assailable point with cannon, was sufficiently discouraging to 
the young commander. In order to harass the enemy, the little 
town of Point-aux-Trembles was plundered, and a general order 
was issued commanding the troops to burn and lay waste the 
country, sparing only the churches. 

Wolfe soon returned again to the Montmorenci, where he 
resolved that an attack in force must take place. Serious skir- 
mishes with the enemy were of almost daily occurrence. In 
which a calamitous loss of life took place, without gaining any 
commensurate advantage. On the night of the twenty-eighth, 
a fire-raft, laden with shells, grenades, explosives, and tar-bar- 
rels, was sent down on the ebb-tide against the British fleet. 
The English sailors, on the alert as before, towed this danger- 
ous contrivance ashore without its having caused any damage. 
The next day, Wolfe sent a flag of truce to Quebec with, the 
following peremptory message : " If the enemy presume to send 
down any more fire-rafts, they are to be made fast to two par- 
ticular transports, in which are all the Canadian and other pris- 
oners, in order that they may perish by their own base inven- 
tions." This threat of stern retaliation efiectually prevented 
the recurrence of the experiment. 

It was now the end of July. Five weeks had passed, serious 
losses had been encountered, and only slight advantage gained. 
Montcalm continually extended and strengthened his lines, and, 
notwithstanding his superiority of numbers, stood strictly on 
the defensive, except that his Indian scouts waylaid and cut off 
every British soldier who ventured far from the camp. Wolfe's 
expedition was understood to be auxiliary to that of Amherst, 
and any less enthusiastic soldier would, in the presence of the 
gigantic difficulties before him, feel justified in waiting for a 
junction with the force under the commander-in-chief before 
attempting an attack upon such an apparently impregnable 
stronghold. But the mind of Wolfe was cast in an heroic mould, 
and difficulties and dangers but excited him to increased daring. 
He therefore resolved on an attempt, bold almost to the verge 
of rashness. 

From the Montmorenci to Quebec was a continuous line of 



244 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

defences and earthworks, eight miles in extent. The water 
toward the shore is shoal, and the ebb of the tide exposes a 
broad extent of mud-flats. To the west of the Falls of Mont- 
morenci the cliff is precipitous and high, and was crowned by 
fbatteries commanding the shore. At the foot of the cliff was a 
French redoubt. Yet the only practicable ford of the Mont- 
morenci, except a difficult one three miles up that river, was at 
this spot, and that only when the tide was out. Wolfe resolved 
to disembark a large force in the face of a strongly entrenched 
enemy, to storm the precipitous heights, to break, if possible, 
Moncalm*a lines, and to bring on a general engagement, which, 
he hoped, would decide the fate of Quebec. 
. The 31st of July was the day chosen for the attempt. To- 
ward noon, the *' Centurion," a sixty-gun frigate, with two 
armed transports, stood in toward the shore, near the Falls of , 
Montmorenci, and opened fire upon the redoubt. The British 
batteries on the eastern bank of the heights above and at Point 
Levi, also began a heavy cannonade on the French lines, and 
on the city. The enemy responded with promptness and vigour, 
and the whole vast amphitheatre, eight miles in extent, re- 
echoed with the roar of artillery. Montcalm, suspecting his 
antagonist's design, began to mass his forces toward the threat- 
ened point of attack, till Wolfe made a feint of a counter- 
demonstration by ordering the march of a body of troops west- 
ward from Point Levi. 

Meanwhile, a combined flotilla of the ships' barges, convey- 
ing the attacking party, lay in mid stream, waiting the order to 
advance. At four o'clock, the signal was given, and, with a 
cheer, the sailors sprang to their oars. The flotilla swept on, 
heedless of the hissing shot which soon began to fall among the 
boats, by which some of them were shattered. Others grounded 
on a ledge of rocks, and the line was thrown into confusion ; 
but, under the inspiration of Wolfe, the stout-hearted tars soon 
rallied, and swept the boats to the landing-place. The grena- 
diers, who were in the foremost line, eager as hounds in leash, 
sprang ashore, and the French fled from the redoubt. 

The advance body of grenadiers had been ordered to form in 



CONQUEST OF CANADA. 245 

columns and await the support of Monckton's brigade from tlie 
boats, and of Townshend's troops, wliich were advancing to cross 
the ford at the foot of the falls. But, flushed with rash valour, 
they rushed impetuously up the steep slope, crowned with the 
batte;:ies of the enemy. A violent summer storm now burst 
uj)on them. Stumbling on the slippery incline, and their ammu- 
nition soaked with rain, they were hurled back in disastrous 
defeat by a crushing fire from the French entrenchments. Four 
hundred and fifty men lay dead or wounded on the gory slope. 
The day was irretrievably lost ; but "Wolfe, with his reserves, 
with the utmost steadiness covered the retreat and rfe-embark- 
atiou of his gallant but defeated troops. The stranded trans- 
ports were abandoned and burned, and the flotilla moved away 
from the fatal shore. 

Chagrin and grief at this disaster threw the young com- 
mander into a well-nish fatal fever. His heroic soul was housed 
in a frail body. Tossing on his couch of pain, he felt 
that the eyes of his country were upon him, and the disappoint- 
ment of its expectations was anguish to his spirit. A council 
of the brigadier-generals was held, to which Wolfe submitted 
three several plans of attack on Montcalm's lines below Quebec. 
They were all, however, rejected as impracticable. The sug- 
gestion of Brigadier-General George Townshend, of climbing 
the precipitous face of the cliff above the city, a design whose 
audacity was the secret of its success, was adopted by the 
young commander. 

Meanwhile the season was rapidly passing, and whatever was 
to be done, must be done quickly. If Montcalm could only 
hold out a few weeks longer, winter would become his ally, and 
compel the retreat of the British. The army was considerably 
reduced by casualties and by sickness, many officers and men 
having died of fever. Provisions, also, had become so scarce 
that rations of horseflesh were frequently served out. An 
effort was made to open communications with Amherst, lying 
idly at Crown Point ; but beyond the moral encouragement 
derived from his victory, and from that of Johnston at Niagara, 



246 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

no advantage accrued to Wolfe from the existence of two large 
and well-equipped armies within a few days' march. 

The conflict grew in bitterness. The city was reduced almost 
to a mass of ruins by the ceaseless fire of the British, and the 
adjacent country on the south shore was laid waste far and 
wide. 

Early in September, Wolfe, masking his designs by feints 
against Beauport, moved the bulk of his army and fleet up the 
river above the city, despite the heavy fire from the batteries 
of Quebec. The keen eyes of the commander soon detected 
the only practicable spot at which the cliff could be climbed — 
a small cove about three miles above the city, which has ever 
since borne his name. The most careful preparations were 
made by the fleet and army for the movement, but its precise 
nature was kept a secret, in order to prevent the possibility of 
its betrayal to the enemy. 

On the early moonless morning of September 13th, before 
day, the fleet dropped silently down the river with the ebbing 
■tide, accompanied by thirty barges containing sixteen hundred 
men, which, with muflied oars, closely hugged the shadows of 
the shore. Pale and weak with recent illness, Wolfe reclined 
among his officers, and, in a low tone, blending with the rip- 
pling of the river, recited several stanzas of the recent poem, 
Gray's "Elegy written in a Country Churchyard." Perhaps 
the shadow of his own approaching fate stole upon his mind, as 
in mournful cadence, he whispered the strangely-prophetic 
words, 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of j)ower, 

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
Alike await the inexorable hour ; 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

With a prescience of the hollowness of military renown, he 
exclaimed, " I would rather have written those lines than take 
Quebec to-morrow." 

Challenged by an alert sentry, an officer gave the counter- 
sign, which had been learned from a French deserter, and the 
little flotilla was mistaken for a convoy of provisions expected 



CONQUEST OF CANADA. 



247 



from Montreal. Landing in the deeply-shadowed cove, the 
agile Highlanders climbed lightly up the steep and narrow path 
leading to the summit. " Qui vive?" demanded the watchful 
sentinel. '' La France," replied Captain McDonald, the High- 
land officer in command, and, in a moment, the guard was over- 
powered. The troops swarmed rapidly up the rugged preci- 
pice, aiding themselves by the roots and branches of the stunted 
spruces and savins ; the barges meanwhile promptly transferring 
fresh re-enforcements from the fleet. With much difficulty, a 
single field-piece was dragged up the rugged steep. 

When the sun rose, the plain was glittering with the arms of 
plaided I-Iighlanders and English red-coats, forming for battle. 
The redoubled fire from Point Levi and a portion of the fleet, 
upon Quebec, and the lines of Beaupoi-t, detained Montcalm 
below the city, and completely deceived him as to the main point 
of attack. A breathless horseman conveyed the intelligence 







OLD ST. JOHN'S GATE.* 

at early dawn. At first incredulous, the gallant commander 
was soon convinced of the fact, and exclaimed, " Then they 

* It ^as tiirougli St. Jolm and St. Louia gates that the greater part of 
Montcalm's army passed, before and after the battle of the Plains of Abraham. 
The gates, as shown in the cuts, have been subject to reconstruction since that 
time. 



248 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

have got the weak side of this wretched garrison, but we must 
fight and crush them ;" and the roll of drums and peal of bugles 
on the fresh morning air, summoned the scattered army to action. 
With tumultuous haste, the skeleton regiments hurried through 
the town, and, about nine o'clock, formed in long thin lines 
upon the Plains of Abraham, without waiting for artillery, 
except two small field-pieces brought from the city. This was 
Montcalm's great and fatal mistake. Had he remained behind 
the ramparts of Quebec, he could probably have held out till 
the ajDjjroach of winter would compel the retreat of the British. 
Including militia and regulars, the French numbered seven 
thousand five hundred famine-wasted and disheartened men, 
more than half of whom were, in the words of "Wolfe, " a dis- 
orderly peasantry." Opposed to them were less than five thou- 
sand* veteran troops, eager for the fray, and strong in their 
confidence in their beloved general. 

Montcalm hoped, by superiority of numbers, to outflank the 
British, when the expected arrival of De Bougainville from 
Point-aux-Trembles would, he anticipated, enable him to win the 
battle. The steadfastness of the brigades under Generals Howe 
and Townshend, who held the extreme left of the British, pre- 
vented the accomplishment of that manoeuvre. Montcalm now 
attacked in full force the centre and right wing of the British, 
driving in the skirmishers on the main body. "VVolfe passed 
rapidly along the line, cheering his men, and exhorting them 
not to fire without orders. Finn as a wall, they awaited the 
onset of the French. In silence they filled the ghastly gaps 
made in their ranks by the fire of the foe. Not for a moment 
wavered the steady line. Not a trigger was pulled till the 
enemy arrived within forty yards. Then, at Wolfe's ringing 
word of command, a simultaneous volley flashed from the 
levelled guns, and tore through the adverse ranks. As the 
smoke-wreaths rolled away upon the morning breeze, a ghastly 
sight was seen. The French line was broken and disordered, 
and heaps of wounded strewed the plain. Gallantly resisting, 
they received another deadly volley. "With cheer on cheer, the 

* The exact numLer was 4,828. That of the French is estimated at 7,520. 



CONQUEST OF CANADA. 



249 



British charged before they could re-form, and, trampling the 
dying and the dead, swept the fugitives from the field, pursuing 
them to the city gates, and to the banks of the St. Charles. In 




ST. LOUIS GATE. 

fifteen minutes, was lost and won the battle that gave Canada 
to Great Britain. The British loss was fifty-seven killed, and 
six hundred wounded ; that of the French was fifteen hundred 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. 

Besides the multitude of slain 
on either side, whose death car- 
ried desolation into many a hum- 
ble home, were the brave com- 
manders of the adverse hosts. 
Almost at the first fire, Wolfe 
was struck by a bullet that shat- 
tered his wrist. Binding a hand- 
kerchief round the wound, he led 
the way to victory. In a moment, 
a ball pierced his side, but he still 
cheered on his men Soon a third shot lodged deep in his 
breast. Staggering into the arms of an officer, he exclaimed, 
32 




WOLFE'S OLD MONUMENT, QUEBEC. 



250 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 




~\ 



" Support me ! Let not my brave fellows see me fall." He 
was borne to the rear, and gently laid upon the ground, 
run!" exclaimed one of the officers standins: 
by. " Who run ? " demanded 
Wolfe, arousing as from a 
swoon. "The enemy, sir; 
they give way everywhere,'* 
was the reply. <'What! 
already?" said the dying 
man, and he gave orders to 
^ cut off their retreat. ' ' Now, 

^ God be praised," he mur- 

^^ mured, " I die content," and 

he gently breathed his last.* 
His brave adversary, 
Montcalm, also fell mortally 
wounded, and was borne 
from the field. " How lona: 
shall I live ? " he asked the 
surgeon. ' ' Not many hours," 
was the reply. ' ' I am glad 
of it," he said ; " I shall not 
see the surrender of Que- 
Ti^^^ bee." He refused to occupy 
hy^'S- ^is mind longer with earthly 
^ ^ concerns. To De Eamsay, 
!" r^ who commanded the garri- 
- c^ ' ^^^,^ y^^^' son, and who sought his 
WOLFE'S NEW MONUMENT, QUEBEC. advlcc as to thc dcfeucc of 
the city, he said : *« My time is very short, so pray leave me. 
To your keeping I commend the honour of France. I wish 
you all comfort and a happy deliverance from your perplexities. 
As for me, I would be alone with God, and prepare for death." 



1\ 



lu _ 



I ' " ! ( r 5 - j 



J 



! ' 3 '< } 




* On the Bpot -where Wolfe fell, a simple monument was erected. This was 
snperscded, in 1849, hy the more tasteful memorial shown in the larger engrav- 
ing. It bears the simple but eloquent inscription : — " HEKE DIED WOLFE, 
VICTOEIOUS." 




CONQUEST OF CANADA. 251 

To another he said : " Since it is my misfortune to be defeated 
and mortally wounded, it is a great consolation that I have 
been defeated by so great and generous an enemy." He died 
before midnight, and, coffined in a rude 
box, was buried amid the tears of his 
soldiers in a grave made by the burst- 
ing of a shell. So perished a brave 
and noble-hearted man, a skilful gen- 
eral and an incorruptible patriot. At 
a time when the civil officers of the 
crown, with scarce an exception, were 
battening like vampires on the life- 
blood of the colony, Montcalm lavished 
his private resources, and freely gave 
UX3 his life on its behalf. montcalm. 

Bougainville, who had menaced the rear of the British with 
fifteen hundred regulars, including three hundred and fifty 
cavalry, withdrew to Cape Eouge, and Vaudreuil, with fifteen 
hundred militia, abandoned the lines of Beauport, both of them 
leaving their heavy guns and stores behind. General Towns- 
hend, who took command of the British, immediately began 
the construction of an entrenched camp on the plain, and in 
three days had a hundred and twenty guns and mortars in 
position for the siege of the city. 

It was, however, already reduced almost to ruins, and its walls 
and ramparts, it was evident, must soon yield to the vigorous 
cannonade with which they were threatened. Its garrison was 
totally inadequate to the task of defence, and the daily rations 
amounted to only a few ounces of bread per man. The citi- 
zens, therefore, urged De Eamsay to capitulate. <'We have 
cheerfully sacrificed our houses and our fortunes," they said, 
" but we cannot expose our wives and children to massacre." 

AI. de Levi had been summoned from Montreal by Vaudreuil 
to take command of the shattered forces. He sent word to 
De Ramsay to hold out to the last extremity, — with the promise 
that provisions and re-enforcements should be thrown into the 
town. But the message came too late. The terms of capita- 



252 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



lation were already signed, and on the 18th of September, 
1759, the rock-built citadel of Quebec passed forever from the 
dominion of France. It was strongly provisioned and garri- 
soned, and the hunger of the wretched inhabitants relieved 
from the stores of the conqueror. Brigadier-General Murray 
assumed the office of Governor, and Admiral Saunders and his 
fleet, with the exception of two frigates, sailed for England. 
The garrison of Quebec, — about a thousand in number, — had 
been permitted to march out with the honours of war, to be 
afterward conveyed to the nearest port of France. 

The tidings of this glorious conquest filled Old and New 
England with pride and exultation. The joy-bells pealed and 
bonfires blazed throughout the land. But the victory brought 
pangs of anguish to two loving hearts, — those of the widowed 
mother and the affianced bride of the gentle hero, who, amid 
the glory of arms, yearned for the quiet joys of domestic life. 
England gave his body a grave, and his fame a monument in 
the mausoleum of her mighty dead, and inscribed his name in 
her glorious bead-roll of immortal souls, who, for her sake, 
freely laid down their lives. 

Near the scene of their death, a 
grateful people have erected a com- 
mon monument to the rival com- 
manders, who generously recognized 
each other's merit m life, and now 
keep for evermore the solemn truce of 
death. The two races which met in 
the shock of battle dwell together in 
loving fealty, beneath the protecting 
folds of one common flag. 

England had never known a year 
of such triumphs as this. In all 
parts of the world her arms were vic- 
torious. At Lagos, at Quiberon, at 
Minden, at Quebec, her fleets or armies won new renown. 
" We must ask every morning," said Horace Walpole, *« what 
new victory there is." 




■WOLFE AND MOIfTCALM'S MONUMENT. 



COXQCEST OF CiX.iDA. 253 

The condition of Canada was now one of extreme exlians- 
tion. The loss of Niagara, Ticonderoga, CroTm Point and 
Quebec, and its disasters in the field had greatly crippled its 
strength. The Indian tribes -were not slow to perceive that 
their ancient allies could no longer oifer them protection, and 
began to waver in their support. The inhabitants of several 
parishes in the vicinity of Quebec, formally took the oath of 
allegiance to the British. The "udnter was one of intense 
severity, and to the French one of imexampled dearth and 
distress, and many persons died of want. General ^Murray 
repaired some five hundred houses for the accommodation of 
his troops, consti'ucted wooden redoubts without the walls, and 
established distant outposts to protect his foragei-s, and to watch 
the movements of the enem}". The labour of procming fuel 
from a distance of ten miles, and of maintaining a defence 
against harassing assaults exhausted the vigom* of the garri- 
son. Its effective strength was reduced by deaths, scurvT', 
frost-bites, and other casualties, from seven thousand to less 
than half that numl^er. 

Notwithstanding the disasters of the previous year, France 
was not to surrender her fairest possession without it6o. 
another struggle. M. de Levi, early in the spring, collected 
ten thousand men at IVIontreal, and, toward the end of April, 
attempted the recapture of Quebec. His stores, ammunition, 
and artillery, he sent down the river in barges and small ves- 
sels, and followed by land with every available man and gun. 
On the 27th of April, General Murray, apprized of the ap- 
proach of the French, called in his outposts, broke do^vn the 
bridges, and retired within the walls, while De Levi occupied 
the neighbouring village of Ste. Foye and its vicinity. The fol- 
lowing morning, at daybreak, with more valour than prudence, 
MmTay marched out his skeleton battalions, supported by 
twenty field-pieces, to give battle to thi-eefold odds. Ho foimd 
the French cleaning their guns, which had been wet by rain 
dm-ing the night, and apjDarently unprepared for action. He 
gave orders for an immediate attack, and his little army 
advanced in order of battle. De Levi speedily di'ew up his 



254 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



troops ill a triple line, placing the militia in the intervals 
between the veteran soldiers. For nearly two hours the battle 
raged with the utmost fury ; but, outflanked and overwhelmed 
by superior numbers, Murray was compelled to take refuge 
behind the ramparts of Quebec, leaving three hundred men dead 
upon the field, and all his artillery in the hands of the enemy. 
About seven hundred men were wounded, who were nearly all, 
however, brought safely within the walls. The loss of the 
French in this fruitless battle was still more terrible, amounting 
to fully eighteen hundred killed or wounded. To the inevitable 

horrors of war, they are 
accused of adding needless 
atrocity by refusing quarter 
to several British officers, 
and abandoning a number 
of their wounded prisoners 
to be massacred by the 
Indians. 

De Levi speedily en- 
trenched himself before the 
city, and pressed the siege 
for eighteen days, maintain- 
ing a feeble fire from fifteen 
guns. The garrison, re- 
duced to two thousand 
efiective men, speedily got 
one hundred and thirty guns 
into position, and kept up a 
vigorous reply ; the women 
and wounded making sand- 
bags to protect the works, 
and cartridges for the guns. 
Besiegers and besieged both looked for aid from an ex- 
pected fleet. Eager eyes were strained continually toward 
Point Levi for signs of its approach. At length a strange 
frigate rounded the headland, amid the anxious suspense of the 
beholders. As the union-jack was run up to the peak, cheer 




STE. FOYE MONUMENT (ERECTED 1863). 



CONQUEST OF CANADA. 255 

on cheer rang from the ramparts, and deep chagrin filled the 
hearts of the besiegers in the trenches. Soon two other vessels 
arrived, the French shipping was attacked and destroyed, and 
De Levi made a hasty retreat, abandoning tents, baggage, and 
siege train in his flight. 

He retired to Montreal, there to make the last stand for the 
possession of Canada. His broken battalions melted rapidly 
away, the famished militia deserting by thousands, in order to 
succour their suffering families. Three English armies con- 
verged on the heart of the colony, where life still feebly beat. 
General Murray, with all his available force, advanced from 
Quebec, overcoming all opposition and everywhere receiving 
the submission of the inhabitants. Colonel Haviland, with 
three thousand men, hastened from Crown Point by way of 
Lake Champlain and the Richelieu, occupying the forts evacu- 
ated by the French. General Amherst proceeded from Albany, 
with ten thousand men and seven hundred Indians under Sir 
William Johnson, by the strange detour of the Mohawk and 
Oswego rivers to Lake Ontario, and thence down the St. 
Lawrence. 

At La Presentation (Ogdensburg) , was a French fort of 
considerable strength. Unwilling to leave a hostile force in his 
rear, Amherst gave orders for its reduction. A storming party 
of grenadiers, with scaling ladders, was told off; and the British 
batteries and armed vessels were placed in position for bom- 
bardment. The little garrison, however, bravely defied an 
army and opened such an effective fire that one of the vessels 
was disabled, and had to be abandoned. After a resistance, 
more than sufficient for the vindication of his honour, M. Pou- 
chot, the hero of Fort Niagara, submitted once more to the 
humiliation of surrender. 

The Iroquois allies of the British had resolved to avenge 
their real or imagined wrongs by the massacre of the garri- 
son. Amherst learning their atrocious design, took effect- 
ual measures to prevent it. The Indians sullenly submitted, 
but bitterly resented the interference, and threatened to aban- 
don the expedition. "Although I wish to retain their friend- 



256 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

ship," answered the general, '< I will not purchase it by coun- 
tenancing barbarity." His maintenance of his honour, more 
than compensated for the loss of his allies, and reflected more 
glory on his name than his conquest of the fort. 

As the expedition approached the Cedar Eapids, Amherst 
expected that the enemy would take advantage of the difficult 
and dangerous navigation to contest his passage. He did not, 
therefore, permit the boats to descend the rapids singly ; but 
insisted on advancing with a number of boats together, convey- 
ing a sufficient force of artillery and grenadiers to overcome 
any probable opposition. As the boats entered the surging 
rapids they became crowded one against another, and many 
were dashed in pieces or wrecked upon the rocks. By this 
disaster, eighty-eight men and sixty-four boats were lost, 
together with a quantity of artillery and stores. 

The three armies of Amherst, Haviland, and Murray, reached 
Montreal on three successive days ; and on the 8th of Septem- 
ber, sixteen thousand men beleaguered the devoted town, the 
last stand of French fidelity and valour. It was defended only 
by frail walls, and by three thousand war-wasted and disheart- 
ened men. Kesistance was impossible. The most heroic 
courage could do no more. The same day, De Vaudreuil 
signed the capitulation which severed Canada from France 
forever. The vast region extending from the fishing-stations 
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Mississippi and the Ohio 
rivers, passed under the sovereignty of Great Britain. The 
entire military muster of Canada, included in the capitulation, 
consisted of four thousand regular troops, who were conveyed 
to France, and over sixteen thousand colonial militia, who 
were permitted to return unmolested to their homes. 



BRITISH RULE. 257 



CHAPTER XEX. 

BRITISH EULE— THE CONSPIEACY OF PONTIAC. 

Beneficial Efi'ects of the Conquest — State of tte Country — Military Govern 
ment — Impeachment and Punishment of Bigot — The Peace of Paris, 1763 — 
Conspiracy of Pontiac — Siege of Detroit — Massacres in the West — Bou- 
quet's Victory at Bushy Eun — Jealousies of French and English Eaces — Sir 
Guy Carleton Governor — Law Eeforms — The Quehec Act, 1774. 

THE conquest of Canada by the British was the most for- 
tunate event in its history. It supplanted the institutions 
of the middle ages by those of modern civilization. It gave 
local self-government for abject submission to a foreign power 
and a corrupt court. It gave the protection of the Habeas 
Corpus and trial by jury, instead of the oppressive tribunals of 
feudalism. For ignorance and repression, it gave cheap 
schools and a free press. It removed the arbitrary shackles 
from trade, and abolished its unjust monopolies. It enfran- 
chised the serfs of the soil, and restricted the excessive power 
of the seigneurs. It gave an immeasurably ampler liberty to 
the people, and a loftier impulse to progress, than was before 
known. It banished the greedy cormorants who grew rich by 
the official plunder of the poor. The waste and ruin of a pro- 
longed and cruel war were succeeded by the reign of peace 
and prosperity ; and the pinchings of famine by the rejoicings 
of abundance. The hdbiians could now cultivate their long 
neglected acres free from the molestation of Indian massacres, 
or fear of British invasion ; nor were they subject to the con- 
tinual jDillage of a Varin, a Cadet, or a Bigot. The departure of 
the impoverished, but haughty noblesse^ who looked down on 
honest labour, instead of being a social loss, relieved the 
industry of the country of a grievous incubus. Even the con- 
quered colonists themselves, soon recognized then* improved 
condition under their generous conquerors. 
33 



258 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The Abb6 Raynal, a contemporary French historiographer, 
thus writes concerning the results of the conquest : "To the 
impenetrably mysterious transactions of a cruel inquisition, 
succeeded a cool, rational, and public trial ; and a tribunal 
dreadful, and accustomed to shed blood, was replaced by humane 
judges, more disposed to acknowledge innocence than to sup- 
pose criminality. The conquered people have been still more 
delighted, by finding the liberty of their persons secured for- 
ever by the famous law of Habeas Corpus. As they had too 
long been victims of the arbitrary wills of those who governed 
them, they have blessed the beneficent hand that drew them 
from a state of slavery to put them under the Drotection of 
just laws." 

The one hundred and fifty-seven years of French occupancy 
had been one long struggle against fearful odds, — first with the 
ferocious savages, then with the combined power of the British 
colonies and the mother country. The genius of French 
Canada was a strange blending of the military and religious 
si3irit. Even commerce wore the sword, and a missionary 
enthusiasm quickened the zeal of her early explorers. The 
reign of peaceful industry was now to succeed that of martial 
prowess, and was to win victories no less renowned than those 
of war. 

As a provisional measure, till a treaty of peace should define 
the future relations of the country, a military government was 
organized in Canada. The country was divided into three 
jurisdictions, — Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, — ruled 
respectively by Generals Murray and Gage, and Colonel Bur- 
ton. A council of officers was held twice a week, which 
administered justice in all matters brought before it. The 
despotic authority of this council was tempered only by the 
integrity and generosity of its members. This military rule, 
though distasteful to the conquered, blended firmness with 
kindness, and repressed sedition while it protected loyalty. 
The free exercise of their religion was accorded to the people, 
and their more pressing necessities were generously relieved. 
The militia were sent to their homes, and the regular soldiers, 



BRITISH RULE. 259 

four thousand in number, were conveyed to France. A con- 
siderable exodus of the noblesse ^ officials, and merchants also 
took place. 

Financially, the colony was bankrupt. Bigot's paper cur- 
rency, which had flooded the country, was worthless, and great 
commercial depression ensued. It had been issued ostensibly 
on the authority of the King of France, but had reached the 
extent of over three millions sterling, which was far in excess 
of the authorized amount, and had so depreciated as to be 
worth only four per cent, of its original value. When the con- 
quest put an end to French rule, the royal treasury refused to 
redeem this paper, and its holders sustained a loss equal to 
three hundred thousand pounds sterling. 

Even during the last siege of Quebec by De Levi, and in the 
very death-agony of the colony, Bigot, and his fellow-conspira- 
tors, sought to enrich themselves out of the ruins of their 
country. Falsified accounts, in which were exorbitant charges 
for work never done, and supplies never furnished, were 
authorized by the engineers, and paid by the Intendant, who 
received himself the lion's share of the dishonest gains.* 
Vast quantities of stores provided for the army were seized by 
the monopolists, and resold at extortionate prices, the soldiers 
being, meantime, wretchedly supplied, and the people actually 
perishing of want. 

Deep chagrin was felt in France at the loss of the fairest 
colony of the crown, with the subjugation of sixty thousand 
loyal subjects, who, for seven years of battle and sieges, of 
privation and suffering, had bravely struggled against over- 
whelming numbers to save Canada for the mother country. A 
court of inquiry into the official conduct of the chief colonial 
functionaries was, therefore, held in Paris, before which nearly 
every civil officer was summoned. 

* " Among the other charges against the French government," says Warhur- 
ton, " was put forward a hill for three hundi-ed thousand moccasins for the 
Indians ; the infamous Cadet managed this contract himself, in the name of his 
clerk, and charged the crown no less than three hundred thousand livres for 
the fraudulent supply." 



260 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

M. de Yaudreuil, the late Governor, together with Bigot and 
other members of the "Grand Company," on their return to 
France were thrown into the Bastile, to await their trial. The 
Governor was honourably acquitted. After fifty-six years 
faithful service of the crown as Governor, successively, of 
Three Rivers, Louisiana, and Canada, he returned to his native 
country poor, having sacrificed his private fortune for the pub- 
lic weal. The crimes of the Intendant were more than proven. 
He and his fellow cormorants were compelled to disgorge their 
ill-gotten plunder, to the amount of nearly twelve million 
francs, and were exiled from France forever. 

In October, 1760, George III. became King. The very 
eminence of Pitt made him obnoxious to the crown and nobles. 
The Great Commoner resigned office, and was ofiered the 
government of Canada, but the not very tempting ofier was 
declined. Still, the impulse of Pitt's policy enabled England, 
Prussia, and little Portugal to withstand the combined power 
of Europe. The naval victories of Watson and Pococke, and 
the conquest of the Philippines and Cuba, though over- 
shadowed by the horrors of the siege of Havana, one of the 
most memorable in history, maintained the ancient supremacy 
of the " sea-girt isle." The awful ravages of the Seven Years' 
War had desolated a large part of Europe, had slain a million 
of men, accumulated a mountain of debt, and produced a heri- 
tage of international hate and domestic grief, when the Peace 
of Paris again gave rest to the war-wearied world in 1763. 
France surrendered to Great Britain the whole of Nova Scotia, 
Cape Breton, Canada, and the Great West to the valleys of the 
Wabash and the Illinois, and the fair and fertile West India 
Islands of Gaudaloupe, Grenada, St. Yincent, Tobago, Mar- 
tinico, and Dominica, and her East India possessions ; and 
Spain gave up Florida, and aH her territory east of the Missis- 
sippi. "Never," exclaimed the exultant King, "did any 
nation in Europe sign such a peace before." 

Yet there were not wanting prophets to foretell that these 
great colonies would not always remain subject to the little 
island beyond the sea. "If the people of our colonies," 



BRITISH RULE. - 261 

•wrote William Burke, a relative of bis illustrious namesake, 
"fiud no check from Canada, they will extend themselves 
almost without bounds, and increase infinitely from all causes. 
What the consequence will be, to have a hardy, numerous and 
independent people, possessed of a strong countr}^ communi- 
cathig little, or not at all, with England, I leave to your own 
reflections. A neighbour that keeps us in some awe is not 
always the worst of neighbours. There should be a balance of 
power in America." 

Soon after the cession of Canada, the red cross of St. George 
supplanted the lilied flag of France on the wooden redoubts 
of Presqu' Isle, De Beuf, Venango, Detroit, Miami, Michilli- 
mackinac, and other forts in the west. Major Kogers, w^th two 
hundred of his forest "Rangers," had proceeded from Montreal, 
soon after the capitulation, to convey dispatches to the western 
forts, and to receive the submission of the French commandants. 
Near the site of the present city of Cleveland he was met by 
the celebrated w^arrior, Pontiac, who had always been the 
stanch ally of the French. This haughty forest potentate 
accosted the intruding British officer with the demand : " How 
have you dared to enter my country without my leave ?" '* I 
come," replied Eogers, " wdth no design against the Indians, 
but to remove the French out of your country," and he oflTered 
the wampum of peace. This Pontiac, for a time, declined to 
accept, and at length agreed, like a sovereign prince, to sufier 
the red-coat soldiers to remain in his country so long as they 
treated him with due deference and respect. 

But the authority of the English was of an aggressive and 
uncompromising character, nor was it exercised with as much 
judiciousness as had been that of the French. The Indians no 
longer received the courteous treatment nor the politic presents 
to which they had been accustomed. Their chiefs , when visit- 
ing a fort, were not now greeted with the roll of drums and 
firing of cannon, nor were they cajoled with flatteries, bribed 
with medals and decorations, or regaled at the officers* tables, 
as was often the case under the astute rule of their former 
friends, — masters they would have disdained to call them. 



262 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The English, on the contrary, did not take the trouble to study 
savage etiquette, or to conciliate savage antipathies. They 
were often brusque, and sometimes rude and stern in their 
intercourse with the red race. Many of the English fur 
traders, too, were lawless and turbulent ruflBans, who plundered 
and outraged the Indians and their families. 

A wide-spread dissatisfaction prevailed in the forest wig- 
wams. This was fanned to a flame by the arts and eloquence 
of Pontiac, who sought to exterminate the English and restore 
the supremacy of his race. "With the wiles of a Machiavelli, 
he laid a deep conspiracy for the simultaneous rising of all the 
tribes on the shores of the Upper Lakes, in the Ohio valley, 
and on the borders of the Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsyl- 
vania settlements. They were to seize the forts, murder the 
garrisons, and ravage the frontier. 

With the exception of Fort Pitt, the fort at Detroit, on the 
beautiful St. Clair River, was the largest and most important in 
the entire West. It was a large stockade, within the limits of 
the present city, with walls twenty feet high, enclosing about 
eighty houses. Its garrison consisted of one hundred and 
twenty soldiers and eight officers, under the command of Major 
Gladwyn ; and two armed vessels lay in the river. Sixty years 
before, a French fort and settlement had been planted at this 
favoured spot, whither the advantages of a fertile soil, excellent 
fishing, and abundance of forest-game had attracted a French 
poj)ulation of about six or seven hundred persons. There were 
also in the vicinity three large Indian villages. 

Here Pontiac resolved to strike the first blow of his revolt, 
on the 7th of May, 1763, nearly three years after the occu- 
pancy of the post by the British. The plan of attack had been 
previously arranged at a forest council of the dusky warriors. 
Pontiac, with sixty of his bravest followers, was to obtain 
entrance to the fort under the pretext of smoking the pipe of 
peace. Each warrior was to carry beneath his blanket his gun, 
with its barrel cut off short so as to admit of better conceal- 
ment. At a given signal they were to fall upon the garrison. 



BRITISH RULE. 263 

and open the gates for the admission of their tribesmen prowl- 
ing without. 

A young squaw, through the influence, it is said, of a roman- , 
tic attachment, revealed this plot to Major Gladwyn, the com- 
mandant, and the garrison was, therefore, on the guard. As 
the Indians, the next day, entered the fort, they beheld the 
soldiers drawn up under arms, with fixed bayonets. As Pon-. 
tiac began his speech, the clash of weapons, and roll of drums, 
announced the discovery of his plot. Yet he was allowed to 
retire unharmed, Gladwyn being, incredulous as to the extent 
of the conspiracy, and unwilling to provoke an Indian war. 
Two days later, hundreds of yelling savages openly attacked 
the fort, massacred some English settlers who lived beyond its 
protection, and summoned the garrison to surrender. 

Pontiac now resolved to attempt a regular blockade, and 
proclaimed that *' the first man that should bring provisions, 
or anything else to the fort, should suffer death." He solicited 
also the assistance of the French, and made one of them his 
secretary. The English, however, by means of their armed 
vessels, commanded the river, and also procured provisions 
from friendly French settlers. For fifteen months the savages, 
about seven hundred in number, closely beleaguered the fort, — 
an unexampled siege in Indian warfare, — defeating successive 
forces sent to its relief. To obtain food for his warriors, Pon- 
tiac levied contributions from the French, and, in imitation of 
Em-opean finance, issued promissory notes drawn upon birch- 
bark, and signed with his own totem, an otter ; all of which, 
on their maturing, were faithfully redeemed. 

The other forts throughout the West, with scarce an excep- 
tion, were reduced by stratagem, by assault, or by siege. At 
Fort Sandusky, a number of Indians, under the guise of 
friendship, gained admission, massacred the garrison, and car- 
ried off the commandant prisoner. Such also was the fate of 
the unhappy occupants of Fort Joseph, on Lake Michigan. At 
Fort Miami, the commandant was induced to visit a sick squaw, 
and, w^hile engaged in his errand of mercy, was treacherously 
shot down, and the little garrison surprised. 



264 HISTORY OF CANADA: 

At Michillimackinac, the savages engaged before the fort in 
an animated contest of la crosse ; an exciting game of strength 
and skill, in which two parties, armed with raquets, strive, the 
one to force a ball between two stakes erected in the field, 
while the other endeavours to prevent its reaching the goal. 
The soldiers and officers lounged around the gates watching the 
absorbing game, the commandant indulging his sporting pro- 
pensity by betting on its result. Squaws strolled unnoticed 
into the fort. At length, a well-directed blow tossed the ball 
within the gate. As the Indians rushed after it, the squaws 
gave them the hatchets which they had kept hidden beneath 
their blankets. The work of massacre began. The garrison 
was overpowered, and all who were not slain were made 
prisoners. 

At Fort Presqu' Isle twenty-seven men, after an heroic 
defence, in which their block-house was fired, and their stockade 
undermined, in order to escape massacre surrendered to a 
force of two hundred savages from Pontiac's camp at Detroit. 
From Fort Le Beuf the garrison escaped to the woods by 
night, while the savages thought that they were perishing in 
the flames. At Fort Venango, not a soul survived to tell the 
story of its destruction. Such were some of the episodes of 
the bloody conspiracy of the Indian tribes under the influence 
of this forest Mithridates. 

Meanwhile, a camp of three thousand Indians, including the 
families of the warriors, was assembled in the vicinity of 
Detroit. On the 30th of May, the besieged garrison caught a 
glimpse of hope. A fleet of English boats was seen gliding 
up the river, containing, it was believed, long expected re-en- 
forcements from K^iagara. It was hailed by a volley from the 
guns, and a cheer from the garrison, but the answering Indian 
yell conveyed the dreadful tidings that the convoy was in the 
hands of the enemy. Lieutenant Cuyler, with a force of nine- 
ty-six men, with an abundant supply of stores and ammunition, 
had been surprised near Point Pelee by a lurking band of 
Pontiac's warriors. Sixty were killed or captured, the rest 
escaped. 



BRITISH RULE. 265 

A month later, a schooner conveying sixty men, arrived at 
the mouth of the river, and fought its way up to the fort 
against tenfold odds. On the 29th of July, the besieged gar- 
rison was surprised by the appearance of twenty-two barges 
conveying Captain Dalzell, late aide-de-camp to General Am- 
herst, with a re-enforcement of two hundred and eighty men, 
and an ample store of ammunition. They had made their way 
up the river in the night, and so escaped detection by the 
enemy. 

It was now resolved to strike a bold blow at the besiegers. 
Dalzell urged that a night attack should be made on Pontiac's 
camp. Gladwyn reluctantly consented, and, at two o'clock on 
the morning of July 31, a force of two hundred and fifty men 
marched out of the fort, and took the road along the riverside. 
Keen-eyed Indian scouts, from the neighbouring forest, watched 
their progress, and as they were crossing a narrow bridge, 
over a stream, two miles from the fort, which ever since has 
borne the name of Bloody Run, a murderous fire was poured 
into their ranks from behind a breastwork of logs among the 
trees. Amid the darkness the soldiers were thrown into con- 
fusion, and only escaped being surrounded by far superior 
numbers by a precipitate retreat. In this disastrous affair, 
the English lost sixty men in killed and wounded, among them 
the gallant Dalzell himself, who lost his life in endeavouring to 
rescue one of his wounded men. The Indian camp now 
increased to over a thousand warriors, but the garrison was 
over three hundred strong, and was quite able to keep the 
besiegers at bay. 

The schooner *' Gladwyn," with a crew of twelve men, return- 
ing with stores from Niagara, was shortly after attacked at 
night by three hundred and fifty savages. After a desperate 
contest, the mate called out to blow up the magazine. Hearing 
this alarming order, the Indians, who were swarming on her 
deck, plunged overboard, and the vessel escaped with the loss 
of two of its crew. 

Nor were the garrisoned forts alone assailed by these ruthless 
Indian warriors. They waylaid and murdered the English 

34 



266 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

trader in the wilderness, and ravaged the entire frontier with 
fire and scalping-knife. They swarmed on the border settle- 
ments, skulked through the forests, lay in wait near the clear- 
ings, shooting down the farmers in the field, scalping the 
housewife by her hearthstone, tomahawking the babe in its 
cradle. About two thousand, it is estimated, were massacred. 

At Fort Pitt was a garrison of three hundred and thirty 
men, under the command of Captain Ecuyer, a brave Swiss 
officer, together with two hundred women and children. 
Towards the close of May a band of Indians brought three 
hundred pounds' worth of furs to the fort and exchanged them 
for guns, powder, bullets, and scalping^knives. That night 
arrived intelligence of the attack on the English posts. The 
fort was speedily put in a condition of defence, a rude engine 
was constructed to extinguish fires, and bullet-proof chambers 
were prepared for the protection of the women and children. 
It was soon surrounded by hundreds of yelling Indians, who, 
burrowing in the river-banks, kept up an incessant fire for 
days, though without inflicting serious damage. 

On the outbreak of the war. Colonel Bouquet had been de- 
spatched from Philadelphia with a force of five hundred High- 
landers and provincial " Eangers" to relieve Fort Pitt, and 
strengthen the garrison at Detroit. With a heavy baggage- 
train, conveying powder, flour, and provisions, and driving a 
hundred beeves, and twice as many sheep, the expedition toiled 
through the wilderness and over the Alleghany Mountains. 
Before reaching the frontier, they found the country devastated 
by a cruel foe. They passed ruined mills, deserted farms, and 
fields waving with ripened grain, but without a hand to gather 
in the harvest. At length, the wagons had to be left behind, 
and, with three hundred and fifty pack-horses, laden with flour, 
the little army pressed on in their toilsome journey. 

When within twenty-five miles of Fort Pitt, near a stream 
named Bushy Eun, the Indians, who had been besieging the 
fort, formed an ambuscade in the forest, and opened a deadly 
fire on Bouquet's advance-guard. The Highlanders gallantly 
charged with the bayonet, but the convoy was soon surrounded 



BRITISH RULE. 267 

by hundreds of yelling savages. For seven long hours the 
conflict raged, till the approach of darkness brought it to a 
close. That night the English lay upon their arms on the 
scene of the battle, and, with the earliest light, the conflict was 
renewed. The wounded were placed in the centre, and pro- 
tected by the bags of flour, while the soldiers formed a circle 
around them and the horses. From dawn, till the hot sun of 
August rose high in the heavens, that devoted band presented 
an unbroken front to the foe, tortured by a burning thirst more 
terrible than the galling fire to which they were exposed. The 
wounded horses, too, broke away and galloped wildly through 
the ranks. The Indians, meanwhile, fired from behind the 
trees, and made occasional rushes to break the circle, but fled 
before the charges of the Highlanders and " Eangers." 

In order to avert impending destruction. Bouquet resorted 
to stratagem. He ordered two companies to retire on the 
centre, as if retreating. The Indians hailed the movement 
with fiendish yells as a sign of defeat, and made a rush to break 
the circle. The retiring companies, meanwhile, issued unper- 
ceived from the rear, and fell with terrific onslaught on the 
flank of the astonished Indians. With a rush and a cheer, the 
Highlanders were upon them with the bayonet, and, attacked 
in front and flank, they were utterly routed, leaving sixty slain 
upon the field. In the two days' action, the loss of the British 
was one hundred and twenty-three, or one-fourth of their entire 
number. Burning what stores they could not carry off, the 
victors pressed on to Fort Pitt, to the siege of which their 
arrival promptly put an end. 

Even within the limits of the present State of New York, 
hostile bands of Indians ravaged the frontier settlements. On 
the 13th of September, a British convoy was assailed at 
*' Devil's Hole," three miles below Niagara Falls, and of eighty 
men, seventy-two fell victims to the scalping-knife. 

During the winter the siege of Detroit was not vigorously 
pressed, most of the tribes being absent on hunting expeditions ; 
but prowling bands still lurked in the neighbouring i764. 
forest, and stragglers from the fort, with scarcely an exception, 



268 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

paid the penalty of their temerity with their scalps. With the 
returning spring, several tribes came back to press the siege. 
But Pontiac, despairing of success, in consequence of the peace 
between the English and the French, retreated in chagrin to a 
camp on the Maumee River. 

Vigorous efforts were now made by the British to put an end 
to this humiliating and destructive Indian war. General Gage, 
who had succeeded Amherst as commander-in-chief, ordered 
General Bradstreet, the hero of Fort Frontenac, to relieve 
Detroit, and to re-garrison the western forts ; and Colonel Bou- 
quet was commanded to reduce the hostile tribes of the Ohio 
Valley. 

The veteran skill of Sir "William Johnson in the management 
of the Indians was still more efficacious in bringing about a 
peace, than either of these armed demonstrations. In the 
month of July, by his invitation, no less than two thousand 
Indian warriors from all parts of the great West, were assem- 
bled beneath the guns of Fort Niagara. After much speech- 
making and interchange of wampum-belts, a separate treaty 
of peace was made with each tribe, and the delegates were 
despatched to their homes lad^n with presents. 

General Bradstreet, with a force of twelve hundred soldiers, 
had, in the meantime, advanced from Albany, by way of 
Oswego, and, with the addition of a number of armed Cana- 
dians, proceeded to relieve the garrison of Detroit. At 
Presqu' Isle, he received a sham embassy from the Shaw- 
nees and Delawares, and credulously made a treaty with 
them, while their warriors were still murdering and scalp- 
ing on the Pennsylvanian frontiers. On the 26th of 
August, he reached Detroit, and was received with delight 
by the garrison, which had endured the unparalleled Indian 
siege of fifteen months. A treaty of peace was made with 
the neighbouring tribes on their complete submission, and a 
force was sent to re-garrison Fort Michillimackinac. 

General Bradstreet now returned to Canada, refusing to co- 
operate with Colonel Bouquet, believing that he had concluded 
a permanent peace with the hostile tribes of the Ohio Valley. 



BRITISH RULE. 269 

The gallant Bouquet, however, better understood the deceit of 
Indian nature. With a force of fifteen hundred regular sol- 
diers and backwoods fighters, he marched boldly west from 
Fort Pitt, and dictated terms of peace in the very heart of the 
territory occupied by the revolting tribes. He also rescued 
several hundreds of white prisoners from their cruel captors, 
and restored them, amid scenes of touching pathos and rejoic- 
mg, to their anxious friends. Husbands and wives, parents 
and children, who had been long separated, were now given 
back to each other's embrace. In not a few instances, tender 
ties had been formed in the forest wigwams, where the captives 
had been adopted or married into Indian families, which were 
not broken without a pang. 

Pontiac subsequently endeavoured to stir up the Indian hordes 
in the valley of the Mississippi against the English, for this 
purpose sending envoys to the numerous tribes upon that 
mighty stream. The growing ascendency of the British 
throughout the great West, however, rendered this attempt 
abortive. Pontiac himself, at length, submitted to English 
rule, and, a few years later, was killed near St. Louis, while 
drunk, by an Illinois Indian. 

After the Peace of Paris, signed February 10, 1763, Canada 
was formally annexed to the British possessions by royal proc- 
lamation. British subjects were invited to settle in the prov- 
ince of Quebec by the promise of the protection of British 
laws, and of the establishment, as soon as the circumstances of 
the country would admit, of representative institutions. Liberal 
land grants were also made to military settlers. These grants 
ranged from five thousand to fifty acres, varying with the rank 
of the grantee, from field officers down to private soldiers. 
After ten years' occupation, they were to be subject to " quit- 
rents " — a small annual tax, the payment of which exempted 
the landholder from all other service. This payment was not, 
however, rigidly enforced, and, in many places, fell into desue- 
tude. The proposed collection of accumulated arrears in later 
times was a cause of great discontent. A civil government, 
consisting of Governor and council, was formed, and courts 



270 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

were established for the administration of justice in accordance 
with the laws of England. The printing-press — that palladium 
of free institutions — was first introduced in Canada in 1764, 
and on the 21st of June, the first number of the *' Quebec 
Gazette," which is still published, made its appearance.* 

The " new subjects," as the French were called, soon found 
themselves placed at a disadvantage, as compared with the 
British settlers, or "old subjects." The latter, although as 
regards numbers, an insignificant minority, — less than five hun- 
dred in all, chiefly half-pay officers, disbanded soldiers, and 
merchants, — assumed all the prerogatives of a dominant race, 
engrossing the public offices to the exclusion of the sons of the 
soil. The terms of the proclamation were interpreted, like the 
law of England for sixty-five years later, as excluding Koman 
Catholics from all offices in the gift of the state. The French 
were willing to take the oath of allegiance to King George, but 
even for the sake of public employment would not forswear 
their religion. 

The British privilege of trial by jury, that safeguard of 
popular liberty, was little appreciated, accompanied as it was 
by increased expense and by the inconvenience of being 
conducted in an unknoAvn language. The simple hahitans 
preferred the direct decision of the judge in accordance with 
their ancient customs. 

General Murray, by his conciliatory and equitable treatment 
of the conquered race, as far as possible within the limits above 
indicated, evoked the jealousy and complaint of the English 
place-hunters, many of whom were thoroughly mercenary and 
corrupt. Complaints of his administration were sent to Eng- 
land, accompanied by petitions for his recall. His policy was 
approved, however, by the Home Government, and he received 
substantial preferment. 

Sir Guy Carleton was appointed the successor of General 
Murray, and proved himself the protector and friend of the 

* It was established by ■William Brown and Thomas Gilmore, of Philadel- 
phia, whose names deserve honourable mention as the pioneers of journalism 
in Canada. 



i 



BRITISH RULE. 271 

conquered colonists. In the administration of justice, which 
was the gi'ound of much controversy, a compromise was 
eflfected. In criminal cases, trial by jury and English forms 
were observed. In civil cases — those affecting property and 
inheritance — the old French laws and procedures were allowed 
to prevail. The English settlers, however, objected strenu- 
ously to several features of the land laws. The feudal tenure, 
by which, on every transfer of real estate, one-twelfth of the 
purchase money must be paid to the seigneur within whose 
seigneury the land lay, was especially obnoxious. This was a 
heavy tax on all improvements, buildings, and the like, and 
greatly discouraged the growth of towns, and drainage of land 
or other modes of increasing its value. The French also 
opposed the registration of deeds, either from ignorant apathy, 
or on account of the, as they conceived, needless expense. 
Consequently British land purchasers or mortgagees sometimes 
found themselves defrauded by previous mortgages, to which 
the French law permitted a sworn secrecy. Notwithstanding 
these and other anomalies, the country entered on a career of 
prosperity, and began to increase in population, agricultural 
and commercial. 

At length, after long delay, in 1774, as a definite settlement 
of the government of the colony, the Quebec Act was passed 
by the British parliament. It extended the bounds of the 
province from Labrador to the Mississippi, from the Ohio to 
the watershed of Hudson's Bay. It established the right of the 
French to the observance of the Eoman Catholic religion, with- 
out civil disability, and confirmed the tithes to the clergy, 
exempting, however, Protestants from their payment. It 
restored the French civil code, and established the English 
administration of law in criminal cases. Supreme authority 
was vested in the Governor and a council of from seventeen to 
twenty-three members, the latter being nominated by the crown, 
and consisting, for the most part, of persons of British birth. 

The English-speaking minority felt that their rights were 
sacrificed. They were denied the promised elective Assembly, 
deprived of the protection of the Habeas Corpus Act, and, in 



272 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

certain cases, of trial by jury ; and were subjected to the civil 
code, and held tbeir property under the ill-understood laws of 
a foreign country. Eox, Burke, Chatham and Townshend pro- 
tested against the injustice in the Imperial parliament. Chat- 
ham rose from his sick-bed to denounce it in the House of 
Lords. " It is an Act," he said, " that tears up justice by the 
roots, destroys the liberty that ought to be the foundation of 
every constitution, and that will soon lose His Majesty the 
hearts of all his American subjects." The merchants and Com- 
mon Council of the city of London, always the champions of 
popular liberty, petitioned against the bill, but the King gave it 
his sanction, declaring that " it was founded on the clearest 
principles of justice and humanity, and would, he doubted not, 
have the best effect in quieting the minds and promoting the 
happiness of his Canadian subjects." 

The American colonies complained bitterly at the transfer to 
Canada of the country north and west of the Ohio, for which 
they had so long and valorously struggled. ' ' You have given 
up," said Thomas Townshend, their mouthpiece in the British 
Parliament, " almost all the country which was the subject of 
dispute, and for which we went to war; extending, in the 
words of the bill, southward to the Ohio, westward to the 
Mississippi, and northward to the territory granted to the Hud- 
son's Bay Company." The Protestant clergy, especially, took 
great offence at the provisions in favour of the Eoman Catholic 
religion, and many of them were led to lend their influence in 
favour of the impending American Kevolution. The Act, how- 
ever, was received with delight by the French population, and 
continued for seventeen years the rule of government of the 
province. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 273 



CHAPTETl XX. 

THE EEVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Causes of tlie American Revolution — The Stamp Duties — The "Boston Tea 
Party," 1773 — Concord, Lexington, Ticonderoga, and Bunker Hill, 1775 — 
American Invasion of Canada — Capture of Forts Chamhly and St. John — 
Montgomery Occupies Montreal — Arnold's Wilderness Raid — Ineffective 
Siege of Quehec — Death of Montgomery — Defeat of Arnold — American 
Invasion Repulsed — Declaration of Independence, 1776 — Burgoyne's Ad- 
vance from Canada and Surrender at Saratoga, 1777 — Governor Carleton 
Resigns — Is Succeeded by General Haldimand, 1779 — Recognition of Amer- 
ican Independence — The Peace of Versailles (1783) makes the Great Lakes 
the Western Boundary of Canada — The United Empire Loyalists seek 
Homes in the British Provinces. 

THE general policy of Great Britain toward her American 
colonies was one of commercial repression. The Navi- 
gation Laws (passed 1651 by the Commonwealth, confirmed by 
Charles II., 1660), prohibited the exportation from the crown 
colonies of certain products, except to Great Britain and in 
British ships ; or the conveyance of any products of Asia, 
Africa or America to any port in Great Britain, except in Brit- 
ish ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were 
the product. American merchants were, therefore, precluded 
by law from the direct importation of sugar, tea, spices, cotton, 
and similar foreign products. These were required first to be 
shipped to Great Britain, and then to be re-shipped to America 
at greatly increased cost and delay. The colonial traders 
largely disregarded this prohibition, and grew rich by smug- 
gling, which acquired in time a sort of toleration. With the 
growth of American commerce, Imperial jealousy was aroused. 
The colonial vessels were seized and the contraband goods 
confiscated by British ships or by the officers of His Majesty's 
customs. These confiscations sometimes took place with little 
ceremony, if not with violence ; and it not unfrequently hap- 
pened that serious riots occurred. The manufacture of certain 
35 



274 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

materials, as wool and iron, was also, in defiance, it was felt, 
of natural rights, prohibited in the colonies. The oligarchical 
power of the crown officials, and the ofiensive assumptions of 
the Church established by law, moreover, gave deep offence to 
the democratic commuiiities of the American colonies. 

In order to meet the, colonial military expenditure, a stamp 
duty was imposed on all legal documents. The colonists denied 
the right of the Imperial Parliament to impose taxes without 
their consent. The Stamp Act was repealed m a year, but the 
obnoxious principle of taxation without representation was 
maintained by a light duty on tea, and some other articles.* 
The colonists refused to receive the taxed commodities, and a 
j)arty of men, disguised as Indians, threw into Boston harbour 
(December 16, 1773), the tea on board the East India vessels, 
amounting to three hundred and forty chests. Parliament, in- 
censed at this " flat rebellion," closed the port of Boston, and, 
against the protest and warning of some of England's greatest 
statesmen, sent troops to enforce submission. 

A Continental Congress was convened at Philadelphia (Sep- 
tember, 1774), which petitioned the King, but in vain, for the 
continuance of the colonial liberties. The creation, by the 
Quebec Act, of a great Northern province, whose government 
was administered by agents responsible only to the crown, was 
regarded as fraught with peril to the interests of the older 
colonies. It was hoped that the disaffection among the British 
population of Canada, and, perhaps, a desire on the part of the 
French to avenge the wrongs of the conquest, would induce 
not a few of the people of Canada to joint the revolt against 
Great Britain. Circular letters were, therefore, sent to Canada 
and Nova Scotia, inviting the inhabitants to send delegates to 
the Continental Congress, at Philadelphia. 

Meanwhile, at Concord and Lexington (April 19, 1775), 
occurred the collision between the armed colonists and the 
soldiers of the King, which precipitated the War of Independ- 
ence, and the loss to Great Britain of her American colonies. 

* The duty on tea was tlireepence per pound, — one-fourth of that paid in 
England. 



*■ THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 275 

From tlie mountains of Vermont to the everglades of Georgia, 
a patriotic enthusiasm burst forth. A continental army was 
organized. General Gage was besieged in Boston. A small 
force was collected in Vermont for tjie capture of Fort Ticon- 
deroga. On the night of May 9, it crossed Lake Champlain, 
and, at dawn, next morning, eighty-three men surprised and 
captured, without a blow, the fort which had cost Great Britain 
eight millions sterling, two great campaigns, and a multitude of 
precious lives to win. Crown Point, with its slender garrison 
of twelve men, surrendered at the first summons, and thus the 
*« gateway of Canada" was in the hands of the insurgent colon- 
ists. A few weeks later, at Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), the 
colonial volunteers proved their ability to cope with the veteran 
troops of England. Five hundred of the former, and a thou- 
sand of the latter, lay dead or wounded on the fatal slope. 

General Carleton resolved to recover, if possible. Crown 
Point and Ticonderoga. He called upon the seigneurs to enroll 
their tenants or censitaires, in accordance with the terms of the 
feudal tenure by which they held their lands. Many of the 
seigneurs responded promptly to this appeal, but the tenantry, 
who had not forgotten the hardships of the late war, denied 
their liability to military service. The Governor, who had 
scarcely eight hundred regular soldiers- at his command for the 
protection of the province, declared martial law to be in force, 
and endeavoured to call out the militia by proclamation. But 
even this appeal, backed up as it was by the mandate of 
Bishop De Briand, exhorting the people to take up arms, was 
inefiectual. 

The American Congress now resolved on the invasion of 
Canada, believing that the revolted colonists had many sympa- 
thizers in the country, who were only waiting for the presence 
of an armed force to declare in favour of the Revolution. 

In the month of September, a colonial force of a thousand 
men, under General Schuyler, advanced by way of Lake Cham- 
plain against Montreal ; and another, under Colonel Arnold, by 
way of the Kennebec and Chaudiere, against Quebec. Gov- 
ernor Carleton still endeavoured, but at first with only very 



276 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

partial success, to enlist the co-operation of the French for the 
defence of the country. They were not, indeed, seduced from 
their allegiance by the blandishments of the revolted colonies ; 
but, for the most part, they continued apathetic, till their 
homes were in danger. Some of the Canadians, however, 
both French and English, sympathized with the invaders, and 
gave them both passive and active assistance. 

While Schuyler was held in check at Fort St. John, on the 
Eichelieu, Colonel Ethan Allen, with some three hundred men, ' 
advanced to Montreal. Taking possession of some barns and 
houses near the town, he was attacked by General Carleton, 
with a force of two hundred and fifty local militia, and some 
thirty regulars. Allen was defeated and taken prisoner, and 
sent in irons to England. Colonel Eichard 
Montgomery, a brave and generous Irish 
gentleman, had succeeded to Schuyler's 
command. He vigorously urged the siege 
of Forts St. John and Chambly. The 
latter ingloriously surrendered to two hun- 
dred Americans, after a siege of a day and 
a half. The prisoners, one hundred and 
EICHARD MONTGOMERY, sixty-cight lu numbcr, were sent to Con- 
necticut. The capture of seventeen cannon, and six tons of 
powder, was of immense advantage to Montgomery, enabling 
him to press with greater vigour the siege of Fort St. John. 

Meanwhile, General Carleton, by great efibrts, got together 
about eight hundred Canadians, regulars, and Indians, for the 
relief of the beleaguered garrison of Fort St. John. On the 
31st of October, he attempted, in thirty-four boats, to cross 
the St. Lawrence from Montreal, in order to effect a junction 
with Colonel Maclean at Sorel. As they approached Longueuil, 
an American force of three hundred men, with two field-guns, 
opened fire on the boats so vigorously that Carleton was com- 
pelled to return to Montreal. The commandant at Fort St. 
John, despairing of relief, and short of both provisions and 
ammunition, surrendered, after a siege of fifty days, with a 
garrison of five hundred regulars and Canadian militia. 




THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



211 



The greater part of the regular troops in the province had 
now been captured, and Montgomery advanced unopposed to 
Montreal. Governor Carleton and Brigadier-General Prescott, 
after destroying the military stores, escaped with a hundred and 
twenty men, just in time to avoid capture. On the 12th of 
November, Montgomery occupied the town, and gained the 
good-will of the people by his generous disposition and affable 
manners. 

Brigadier-General Prescott, and his command, were inter- 
cepted at Sorel by a force of Americans, with an armed vessel 
and some floating batteries. Carleton escaped only by being 
rowed, with muflled oars, by night, past the American guards ; 
and so reached Quebec, which was now menaced by Benedict 
Arnold. That officer, who subsequently gained eternal infamy 
by the base attempt to betray the 
fortress of West Point, com- 
mitted to his keeping, had pre- 
viously visited Quebec, and had 
secret correspondents among its 
inhabitants. In the month of 
September, with a force 




^^V'^ 



BENSsiax ATt-nrnm- 



nearly a thousand men, among ^^ 
whom was Aaron Burr, a future 
Vice-President of the United 
States, he had toiled up the swift 
current of the Kennebec and 
Dead Eiver, to the head-waters 
of those streams. With incred- 
ible labour they conveyed their 
boats and stores through the tangled wilderness to the Chau- 
diere, and sailed down its tumultuous current to the St. Law- 
rence. Their sufferings through hunger, cold, fatigue, and 
exposure, were excessive. They were reduced to eat the flesh 
of dogs, and even to gnaw the leather of their cartouch-boxes 
and shoes. Their barges had to be dragged against the rapid 
stream one hundred and eighty miles, and carried forty miles 
over rugged portages on men's shoulders. Their number was 




278 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

reduced, by sickness, exhaustion and desertion, to seven hun- 
dred men before they reached the St. Lawrence, and only six 
hundred were fit for military service. Without artillery, with 
damaged guns and scanty ammunition, with wretched clothiiig 
and imperfect commissariat, they were to attempt the capture 
of the strongest fortress in America. 

The Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, the 
Hon. H. T. Cramah^, had strengthened the de- 
fences of the fortress capital, and learning the 
approach of Arnold, had carefully removed all 
the boats from the south side of the river. On 
the night of November the 13th, Arnold, having 
constructed a number of canoes, conveyed the 
bulk of his meagre army across the river, and, 
WALLS OF QUEBEC* ^jthout opposltiou, climbcd the cliff by Wolfe's 
path, and appeared before the walls of the upper town. He 
sent a flag of truce to demand the surrender of the place ; but 
the flag was not received, and no answer to the summons was 
deigned. Having failed to surprise the town, and despairing, 
with his footsore and ragged regiments, with no artillery, and 
with only five rounds of ammunition, of taking it by assault, 
he retired to Point-aux-Trembles, some twenty miles up the 
river, to await a junction with Montgomery. 

On the 19th of the month, Governor Carleton reached 
Quebec, and began preparations for a vigorous resistance. Dis- 
affected persons, and those unwilling to join in the defence of 
the town, were ordered to leave within four days. The entire 
population was about five thousand, and the garrison numbered , 
eighteen hundred in all, consisting of about a thousand British 
and Canadian militia, 'three hundred regulars, and a body of 
seamen and marines from the ships in the harbour. The place 
was provisioned for eight months. 

* Refeeences. — A. The St. Charles Eiver. 
B. The St. Lawrence. 

a. Wolfe and Montcalm's Monument. 

b. Place where Montgomery fell. (Shown also in cut on page 279.) 

c. Place where Arnold was defeated. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



279 



On the 4tli of December, the united forces of Arnold and 
Montgomery, amounting to about twelve hundred in all, 
advanced against Quebec. Carleton refused to hold any com- 
munication with them, and the besieging army encamped in the 
snow before the walls. Its scanty artillery produced no effect 
upon the impregnable ramparts. Biting frost, the fire of the 
garrison, pleurisy, and the small-pox did their fatal work. The 
only hope of success was by assault, which must be made before 
the close of the year, when the period of service of many of 
the men expired. 

On the last day of 
the year, therefore, 
a double attack was 
made on the lower 
town, the object of 
which was to effect a 
junction of forces, and 
then to storm the upper 
town. At four o'clock in 
morning, in a blinding snow- 
storm, Montgomery, with 
five hundred men, crept 
along the narrow pass be- 
tween Cape Diamond and the 
river. The western approach to the 
town was defended by a block-house 
and a battery. As the forlorn hope 
made a dash for the barrier, a volley 
of grape swept through their ranks. 
Montgomery, with two of his offi- 
cers and ten men, were slain. The 
deepening snow wrapped them in its icy shroud, while their 
comrades retreated in utter discomfiture. 

On the other side of the town, Arnold, with six hundred 
men, attacked and carried the first barriers. The alarum bells 
rang, the drums beat to arms, the garrison rallied to the defence. 
The assaulting party pressed on, and many entered the town 




FACE OF CITADEL CLIFF, QXTEBEC. 



280 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

througli the embrasures of a battery, and waged a stubborn 
fight in the narrow streets, amid the storm and darkness. With 
the dawn of morning, they found themselves surrounded by an 
overwhelming force, and exposed to a withering fire from the 
houses. They therefore surrendered at discretion, to the 
number of four hundred men. 

Arnold continued during the winter to maintain an inefiective 
siege, his command daily wasting away with small-pox, cold, 
1776. and hunger. A party of three hundred and fifty loyal 
Canadians, under M. de Beaujeu, attacked his lines, but was 
repulsed with loss. The sympathy of the Jiabitans was 
estranged by the military oppression and usurpation of the 
American " Kberators." They were forced to part with their 
produce for bills of credit, which were uncurrent in the country, 
and their religious feelings were oflfended by the Protestant 
antipathies of the New England militia. Scanty re-enforcements 
of the besieging army continued to arrive, till it numbered 
about two thousand men. 

In April, the American Congress ordered that a strong force 
with an ample supply of materiel of war, should be raised for 
.the conquest of Canada ; and Major-General Thomas, of Massa- 
chusetts, was despatched to take command of the army before 
Quebec. This energy, however, was manifested too late. 
Thomas arrived on the 1st of May, and found nearly half of 
the American force sick with small-pox, the magazines almost 
empty, and only six days' provisions in camp. The French 
sympathizers with the Americans, moreover, had become dis- 
afiected, and supplies were obtainable only with great difficulty. 
General Thomas decided on an immediate retreat to Three 
Rivers. The next day British ships arrived in the harbour, and 
before he could move his invalid army, the garrison of Quebec 
issued from the gates, a thousand strong, and fell upon his camp. 
The Americans fled precipitately, leaving guns, stores, pro- 
visions, and even their sick behind. The latter were humanely 
treated by Carleton, but many of the French insurgents paid 
the penalty of their revolt by the confiscation or destruction of 
their property. General Thomas, with his command, retreated' 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 281 

amid great hardships to Sorel, where he soon died of small- 
pox, and was succeeded by General Sullivan. So ended the 
fifth and last siege of the rock-built fortress of Quebec. 

Meanwhile, thre6 American Commissioners, Benjamin Frank- 
lin, Samuel Chase, and Charles Carroll, came to Montreal to 
urge the Canadians to join the revolted colonies against Great 
Britain. John Carroll, a brother of Charles, a Jesuit, who 
subsequently became Archbishop of Baltimore, also came, to 
exert his influence as an ecclesiastic with the Canadian clergy in 
promoting this object. Without the aid of a large army and an 
abundance of "hard money," neither of which Congress could 
command, it was found that the Canadians would take little part 
in continuing the war. 

An American force of three hundred and ninety men had 
occupied a stockade at the Cedar Kapids, forty-five miles above 
Montreal, in order to intercept a body of British troops and 
Indians, who were known to be descending the river. They 
were themselves attacked by an inferior British force under 
Captain Forster, and surrendered the stockade. The next day, 
a hundred and forty Americans, coming to the relief, were 
surprised by a number of Indians and Canadians, and made 
prisoners, not without the infliction of unwarranted cruelties 
by the savages. Captain Forster advanced with his prisoners 
toward Montreal, but learning that Arnold was about to attack 
him with seven hundred men, he made hasty dispositions for 
defence, and offered such an effective resistance, that his 
antagonist was compelled to retreat. An exchange of prisoners 
to the number of nearly five hundred was effected between the 
belligerents. 

In the month of June, an army of nearly ten thousand men, 
under Major-General Burgoyne, arrived at Quebec ; and Briga- 
dier-General Frazer, with twenty-five transports, at once pro- 
ceeded as far as Three Elvers, which was threatened by a force 
of fifteen hundred American militia-men. Frazer's troops landed 
and completely routed the enemy, making some two hundred 
prisoners. Sullivan, the American general, now withdrew his 
disorganized and plague-smitten army from Sorel to Isle-aux- 
36 



282 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Noix, and soon after to Crown Point, whither he was shortly 
followed by Arnold from Montreal. Thus ended in disaster 
and defeat the invasion of Canada during the Revolutionary 
War. 

Governor Carleton now took active measures for the creation 
of a fleet of about twenty vessels, besides many transports, on 
Lake Champlain, the materials for which had been brought in 
part from England, and with infinite toil transported to the 
place of launching. The Americans also constructed a fleet, 
but one much inferior in size and equipment to that of their 
antagonists. In a severe engagement near Crown Point (Oc- 
tober 19), Arnold was badly beaten, and, to avoid surrender, 
beached those of his vessels that remained uncaptured, and set 
them on fire. The British now controlled the lake, and the 
Americans concentrated their strength at Ticonderoga.' 
' Meanwhile the revolted colonies had thrown ofl" their 
allegiance to the mother country by the celebrated Declaration 
of Independence, which was solemnly adopted by the Con- 
tinental Congress, July 4, 1776. The British had already been 
obliged to evacuate Boston. They were also repulsed in an 
attack upon Charleston, S. C. In July, Lord Howe gained an 
important victory at Long Island, and took possession of New 
York, driving "Washington across the Delaware. The latter, 
however, won a brilliant victory at Trenton and another at 
Princeton, which left the result of the campaign in favour of 
the revolted colonists. 

Notwithstanding the protests of Lord Chatham and Lord 
North against the war, the King and his ministers persisted in 
their policy of coercion. The following spring. General Bur- 
1777. goyne, who had been appointed to the supreme military 
command, set out from Canada, with nine thousand men, to 
invade the State of New York, by way of Lake Champlain, 
efiect a junction with General Gage at Albany, and sever the 
American confederacy by holding the Hudson River. He cap- 
tured Ticonderoga, and advanced to Fort Edward. The New 
England and New York militia swarmed around the invading 
army, cut off its supplies, and, familiar with the ground, attacked 



THE REVOLXJTIONART WAR. 



283 



its detached forces with fatal success. Burgoyne was defeated 
at Stillwater, on the Hudson, and soon afterwards, being com- 
pletely surrounded, surrendered, with six thousand men, to 
General Gates, at Saratoga. This surrender led to the recog- 
nition of American independence by the French, and to their 
active assistance of the revolt by money, arms, ships, and 
volunteers. The occupation of Philadelphia by the British, and 
the defeat of the Americans at Brandywine and Germantown, 
were, however, disheartening blows to the young repubhc. 

Governor Carleton, indignant at the military promotion of 
General Burgoyne over his own head, resigned his commission, 
and was succeeded in office by General Haldimand. A Swiss 
by birth, and a strict martinet in discipline, the stern military 
government of the latter was a cause of much dissatisfaction. 
Seditious sentiments were unhappily only too rife among the 
population of Canada, both English and French. These the 
Governor attempted to repress with the strong hand. It was 
dangerous to express any degree of sympathy with the revolted 
colonists. Not a few persons suffered arbitrary arrest and 
imprisonment on inadequate grounds under the vexatious rule 
of Haldimand. Some of these afterwards instituted civil 
actions against the Governor for his unconstitutional invasion of 
personal liberty, and were awarded 
damages, which were paid by the 
British Government. 

The Revolutionary War continued 
with varying fortune to drag its 
weary length. Several European 
officers of high rank and distin- 
guished military ability placed their 
swords at the disposal of the young 
republic of the West, and rendered 
valuable service in organizing, ani- 
mating and leading its armies. 
Among these were the Barons Steu- 
ben and DeKalb, the brave Polish patriots Kosciuszko and 
Pulaski, and, most illustrious of them all, the gallant Marquis 




LA FAYETTE. 



284 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

de la Fayette. The genius and moral dignity of Washington 
sustained the courage of his countrymen under repeated disas- 
ter and defeat, and commanded the admiration and respect even 
of his enemies. The last great act of this stormy drama was 
the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, with seven thousand troops, 
at Yorktown, Virginia, October 19, 1781. Lord Chatham, 
Lord North, and many of the leading minds of Great Britain 
were averse to the prosecution of the war, and now public 
opinion compelled the King and ministry to recognize the 
independence of the revolted colonies. 

The treaty of peace was signed at Versailles, September 3, 
1783. By its terms Canada was despoiled of the magnificent 
region lying between the Mississippi and the Ohio, and was 
divided from the new nation, designated the United States, by 
the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence, the forty-fifth parallel of 
north latitude, "the highlands dividing the waters falling into 
the Atlantic from those emptying themselves into the St. Law- 
rence," and the St. Croix Eiver. That portion of the definition 
of this boundary enclosed in inverted commas was sufficiently 
vague to give rise to serious international disputes at a subse- 
quent period. 

The Americans were also accorded the right of fishing on the 
banks and coasts of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, and of landing to cure and dry their fish. Having 
once enjoyed those valuable privileges, the New England fisher- 
men would never consent to give them up. The *' fishery 
question" became, therefore, in after-times, one of the most 
perplexing and irritating subjects of discussion between the two 
countries. 

Although Washington had established the independence of 
his country, he had yet to organize its government and suppress 
the internal strifes and factions by which it was agitated. With 
consummate wisdom, he called to his aid the leading minds of 
the country — men who had the confidence of the diverse politi- 
cal parties. In his first cabinet were associated with him Jef- 
ferson, Knox, Eandolph, and Hamilton. By their efforts, aided 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



285 



by the patriotism of the people, out of a congeries of separate 
states was moulded a united nation. 




Jefferson. Eaos. 



Randolph, Ilamiltun, Washington. 

WASHINGTON'S CABINET. 



During the war, the province of Nova Scotia had a history of 
blended prosperity and adversity. The colony, fostered by 
large Imperial expenditure in the original planting and subse- 
quent maintenance of Halifax as a great naval depot, had 
proved unfalteringly loyal to the crown. American privateers 
intercepted the vessels conveying stores, forage, and provis- 
ions, from Nova Scotia to the British troops at Boston and New 
York. They even attacked and destroyed Fort Frederick, at 
the mouth of the Elver St. John, and plundered the town of 
Lunenburg on the Atlantic coast. 

A considerable number of the American colonists had re- 
mained faithful to the mother country. Their condition, during 
and after the war, was one of extreme hardship. They were 
exposed to suspicion and insult, and sometimes to wanton 
outrage and spoliation. They were denounced by the local 
Assemblies as traitors. Many of them were men of wealth, 
education, talent, and professional ability. But they found 
their property confiscated, their families ostracized, and often 
their lives menaced. The fate of these patriotic men excited the 
sympathy of the mother country. The leaders of both political 



286 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. 

parties spoke warmly on tlieir behalf. Their zeal for the unity 
of the empire won for them the name of United Empire Loyal- 
ists, or,, more briefly, U. E. Loyalists. The British Govern- 
ment made liberal provision for their domiciliation in the sea- 
board provinces and Canada. The close of the war was followed 
by an exodus of these faithful men and their families, who, from 
their loyalty to their King, and the institutions of their father- 
land, abandoned their homes and property, often large estates, 
to encounter the discomforts of new settlements, or the perils of 
the pathless wilderness.* These exiles for conscience' sake 
came chiefly from New England and the State of New York, 
but a considerable number came from the Middle and Southern 
States of the Union. , 

Several thousand settled near Halifax, and on the Bay of 
Fundy. They were conveyed in transport-ships, and billeted in 
churches and private houses till provision could be made for 
their settlement on grants of land. Many of them arrived in 
wretched plight, and had to be clothed and fed by public or 
private charity. A large number established themselves on the 
St. John Eiver, and founded the town of St. John, — long 
called Parrtown, from the name of the Governor of Nova Scotia. 
Numbers also settled in Prince Edward Island. 

What is now the province of Ontario, at the close of the 
Revolutionary War was almost a wilderness. The entire Euro- 
pean population is said to have been less than two thousand 
souls. These dwelt chiefly in the vicinity of the fortified posts 
on the St. Lawrence, the Niagara, and the St. Clair rivers. 
The population of Lower Canada was, at this time, about one 
hundred and twenty thousand. It was proposed by the Home 
Government to create, as a refuge for the Loyalist refugees, a 
new colony to the west of the older settlements on the St. 
1784. Lawrence, it being deemed best to keep the French 
and English populations separate. For this purpose, surveys 
were made along the upper portion of the river, around the 

* The Britisli Parliament voted £3,300,000 for the indemnification and assist- 
ance of the patriotic Loyalists, of whom twenty-five thonsand are estimated to 
have sought refuge in the British colonies. 



THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 287 

beautiful bay of Quinte,* on the northern shores of Lake 
Ontario, and on the Niagara and St. Clair rivers. 

To each United Empire Loyalist, was assigned a free grant 
of two hundred acres of land, as also to each child, even to 
those born after immigration, on their coming of age. The 
Government, moreover, assisted with food, clothing, and im- 
plements, those loyal exiles who had lost all on their expatria- 
tion. Each settler received an axe, hoe, and spade ; a plough, 
and one cow, were allotted to every two families, and a whip-saw 
and cross-cut saw to each group of four households. Sets of 
tools, portable corn-mills, with steel plates like coffee-mills, 
and other conveniences and necessaries of life were also dis- 
tributed among those pioneers of civilization in Upper Canada. 

Many disbanded soldiers and militia, and half-pay officers 
of English and German regiments, took up land; and liberal 
land-grants were made to immigrants from Great Britain. 
These early settlers were for the most part poor, and for the 
first three years the Government granted rations of food to the 
loyal refugees and soldiers. During the year 1784, it is esti- 
mated that ten thousand persons were located in Upper Canada. 
In course of time not a few immigrants arrived from the United 
States. The wilderness soon began to give place to smiling 
farms, thriving settlements, and waving fields of grain, and 
zealous missionaries threaded the forest in order to administer 
to the scattered settlers the rites of religion. 

* In 1785, the settlement on the site of Fort Frontenac (Kingston) had already 
fifty houses, " some of them," -writes the Eev. Dr. Smart, then the only clergy- 
man in Upper Canada, " very elegant." 



288 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



THE FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 



Lord Dorcliester (Sir Guy Carleton) Governor-General of British North Amer- 
ica, 1786 — -The Constitutional Act divides Canada and reconstructs its Con- 
stitution, 1792 — Early Legislation — Government of Upper Canada Organ- 
ized — First Parliament — Choice of a Capital — York (Toronto) Founded, 
1795 — Major-General Hunter, Lieutenant-Governor, 1799 — Internal Develop- 
ment — Growth of Political Parties — Francis Gore, Lieutenant-Governor, 
1806 — Judge Thorpe, a Popular Tribune — Social Organization — Education 
— Eeligion, etc. 



o 



N the recall of Governor Haldimand in 1785, Henrj Ham- 
ilton, Esq., a retired military officer, administered the 




HOPE GATE, QUEBEC. 



government of Canada till the arrival in the following year of 
Sir Guy Carleton, now Lord Dorchester, who became Governor- 
General of British North America, and Commander-in-Chief of 



FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 289 

all His Majestj^'s forces therein. During this interval, Major- 
General Hope had command of the King's troops, and his 
memory was perpetuated in Hope Gate, of Quebec, shown in 
the engraving, which was erected under his authority. 

In 1788, Lord Dorchester, by proclamation, divided the new 
western colony that had been formed, into four districts ; 
namely, Lunenburg, extending from the Ottawa to the river 
Gananoque ; Mecklenburg, from the Gananoque to the Trent ; 
Nassau, from the Trent to Long Point on Lake Erie ; and 
Hesse, embracing the rest of Canada to the St. Clair. To 
each of these districts were appointed a judge and sheriff, who 
administered justice by means of Courts of Common Pleas. 

The Canadian colonists now demanded the same constitutional 
privileges as were enjoyed by the maritime provinces. The 
Habeas Corpus and trial by jury in civil cases were secured to 
them by statute law. But they wished also an elective Legis- 
lative Assembly, instead of a crown-appointed Legislative 
Council, and a larger measure of constitutional liberty. In 
1791, Lord Grenville, therefore, introduced into the House of 
Lords a Bill, known as the Constitutional Act, for the adjust- 
ment of Canadian affairs. It divided Canada into two prov- 
inces by a line drawn from Point-au-Baudet, on Lake St. Francis, 
to Point Fortune on the Ottawa, thence along the course of that 
river to its head-waters and the southern limit of the Hudson's 
Bay Territory. 

Under the new Constitution each province received a separate 
legislature, consisting of a Legislative Council, appointed by 
the crown ; a Legislative Assembly, elected by the people ; 
and a Governor, appointed by the crown, and responsible only 
to it. The Assembly was elected for four years, but might 
be sooner dissolved by the Governor for due cause. In it was 
vested the power of raising a revenue for roads, bridges, 
schools, and similar public services. A body, which at length 
became exceedingly obnoxious to public opinion, was the 
Executive Council. It consisted of salaried officials of the 
crown and judges, who were the confidential advisors of the 
Governor, although not accountable for their acts, either to 
37 



290 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

him or to the Legislative Assembly. They frequently, or 
indeed generally, held seats in the Legislative Council, and 
often virtually controlled the legislation by their predominant, 
yet irresponsible influence. In "Western or Upper Canada, 
British law, both civil and criminal, and freehold land tenure 
were introduced. In Eastern or Lower Canada, the seigneurial 
tenure and French law in civil cases were retained. An 
allotment of one-seventh of the crown lands was made in each 
province "for the support of a Protestant clergy" — a pro- 
vision which gave rise to much subsequent trouble and agita- 
tion. 

The Canada Bill was warmly discussed in the English House 
of Commons. Mr. Charles Fox opposed the principle of 
crown-appointed Councils as denying due political influence to 
the people, and urged the constitution of elective Councils. 
Burke, on the contrary, whom the excesses of the French 
Revolution had greatly alarmed, inveighed against the principle 
of popular liberty. Mr. Lymburner, a Quebec merchant, who 
represented the feelings of the British population, was heard at 
the bar of the House against the Bill, chiefly on commercial 
grounds. As Quebec and Montreal, the chief ports of entry, 
held the key of commerce, it was feared that unjustly discrim- 
inative duties would be imposed upon the trade of Upper 
Canada. 

The new Constitution was inaugurated in 1792. Its opera- 
tions soon justified the apprehensions of Fox. The Legis- 
lative, and especially the Executive Councils, composed as 
they were largely of salaried officials, judges, and dependents 
on the crown, and utterly irresponsible to the people, became 
objects of popular jealousy. 

In Lower Canada, in the absence of Lord Dorchester, Colonel 
Alured Clarke was entrusted with the administration of gov- 
ernment. The elections took place in June, and, in some 
instances, were warmly contested. The Legislature met on the 
17th of December, in the even then venerable city of Quebec. 
It was composed of a nominated Council of fifteen, and a 
Lower House of fifty members, elected for four years. Fifteen 



FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 291 

of the latter were of British, and the remainder of French 
origin. The chief justice of the province, the Hon. William 
Smith, was chosen Speaker of the Legislative Council ; and M. 
Panet, a distinguished advocate, who spoke no language but his 
native French, was elected Speaker of the Assembly. It was 
decided, therefore, that the debates should be conducted, as 
they have been ever since in all legislatures in which Lower 
Canada was represented, in both English and French ; and the 
official documents were published in both languages. A jeal- 
ousy of race was fomented by the invectives of the rival news- 
papers of the French and English press. 

In Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, Esq., was appointed 
first Lieutenant-Governor. He was a landed gentleman, and had 
been a member of the English House of Commons. He held 
also the rank of Brigadier-General in the army, and had com- 
manded a royal regiment during the Eevolutionary War. He 
had assisted in passing the Constitutional Act, and was anxious 
to see it successfully carried out.* His administration was 
honest, prudent, energetic, and public-spirited. The Govern- 
ment of Upper Canada was organized at Kingston in the month 
of July, 1792 ; when the members of the Executive and Legis- 
lative Councils were sworn in, and writs were issued for the 
election of the Legislative Assembly, f The seat of govern- 
ment was established at Newark, a village of about a hundred 
houses, at the mouth of the Niagara River. Here the first 
Parliament of Upper Canada assembled on the 17th of Septem- 
ber, 1792. The Assembly consisted of sixteen, and the Legis- 
lative Council of seven members, — plain, home-spun clad 
farmers or merchants, from the plough or store. The session 
lasted five weeks, in which time eight bills of great practical 
utility were passed. They provided for the introduction of the 

* He liad also a pathetic personal interest in Canada, his father, Captain 
John Simcoe, commander of H. M. Ship " Pembroke," • having heeu killed at 
the siege of Quebec in 1759. 

t The names of these first Conscript Fathers of Upper Canada -were William 
Osgoode, James Baby, Alexander Grant, and Peter Russell, members of the 
Executive Council ; and, in addition to these, Robert Hamilton, Richard Cart- 
wright, and John Munro, members of the Legislative Council. 



292 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

English civil law and trial by jury, for the easy recovery of 
small debts, and for the erection of jails and court-houses in 
each of the four districts into which the country was divided, — 
the Eastern or Johnstown District, the Middle or Kingston 
District, the Home or Niagara District, and the Western or 
Detroit District. The Newark "Gazette," the first Upper 
Canadian journal, recorded the Acts passed, the proclamations 
of the Governor, and a meagre amount of news from the outer 
world. 

When the seat of government was first removed to Niagara, 
the fort on the eastern side of the river was occupied by Brit- 
ish troops. But on the withdrawal of the garrison, and the 
surrender of the fort to the Americans, Governor Simcoe, 
deeming Newark too near the frontier, looked for a more 
eligible site. " The chief town of a province," he said, " must 
not be placed under the guns of an enemy's fort." He pro- 
posed to found a new London, in the heart of the Western 
District, secure from invasion, on the banks of the winding 
Thames. Lord Dorchester favoured the claims of Kingston, 
which he made the principal naval and military station of the 
province. As a compromise, York, as it was named, on the 
site of an old French fort, was selected, chiefly on account 
of its excellent harbour, although the land was low and swampy. 
The growth and prosperity of the fair city of Toronto vindi- 
cate the wisdom of the choice. 

Parliament continued to sit at Newark till 1797. The prin- 
cipal Acts provided for civil and municipal administration, for 
the construction of roads, fixing of duties, millers' tolls, and 
the like. Rewards of twenty and ten shillings, respectively, 
were offered for wolves' and bears' heads, which fact is suggest- 
ive of the forest perils of the times. The payment of members 
of Parliament was fixed at ten shillings per day. The intro- 
duction of slaves was forbidden, and their term of servitude 
limited, ten years before similar legislation in Lower Canada. 

Governor Simcoe removed to York in 1795, before a house 
was built, lodging temporarily in a canvas tent or pavilion,* 

* Originally constructed for Captain Cook. 



FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 293 

pitched on the plateau overlooking the western end of the bay. 
In 1797, the provincial legislature was opened in a wooden 
building, near the river Don, whose site is commemorated by 
the name of Parliament Street ; but the founder of Toronto 
had previously been transferred to the government of San 
Domingo. He had projected a vigorous policy for the encour- 
agement of agriculture, fisheries, and internal development. 
He employed the Queen's Rangers to construct a main road, 
Yonge Street, toward the lake that bears his name, and pro- 
posed to open direct communication between Lake Huron and 
Lake Ontario, and also with the Ottawa. On his removal, 
most of these wise schemes fell through. Land designed for 
settlement was seized by speculators, especially in the vicinity 
of Toronto, and the general development of the country was 
greatly retarded. 

Mr. Peter Russell, the senior member of the Executive 
Council, administered the government till the arrival of 1799. 
Major-General Hunter, who held office for the ensuing six years. 
The progress of the country in trade, population, and the 
development of its resources, was rapid. The tide of immi- 
gration steadily increased. The Irish troubles of " '98," 
especially, led many hardy settlers to seek new homes in the 
virgin wilds of Canada. The obstructions of the St. Lawrence 
made communication with Montreal and Quebec more difficult 
than with Albany and New York. A brisk lake trade therefore 
sprang up, and additional ports of entry were established, 
which fostered the prosperity of the growing settlements of 
Cornwall, Brockville, Kingston, York, Niagara, Amherstburg, 
and other frontier villages. The legislature also encouraged 
by a money grant the growth of hemp, with a view to make 
England independent of Russia for cordage. In 1803, Colonel 
Talbot, an eccentric British officer, received a grant of five 
thousand acres of land on Lake Erie, on condition of placing a 
settler on every two hundred acres. For many years he kept a 
sort of feudal state in his forest community. As the province 
increased in wealth and population, the evils of a practically 
irresponsible government began to be felt. The Executive 



294 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

Council, compqsed of the Governor and five of his nominees, 
removable at his pleasure, gradually absorbed the whole 
administrative influence of the colony. The' official " Gazette," 
the only representative of the public press, was in the hands of 
the Government, as was also the whole of the revenue of the 
province. The Legislative Assembly, therefore, could exercise 
no check by annual votes of supply. Many poor gentlemen, 
half-pay officers, and others of similar character from the 
mother country, sought to better their fortunes in the new 
colony. By birth and training they were unfitted to cope with 
the hardships of backwoods life. They therefore disposed of 
their land grants for whatever they would bring, and became 
clamorous petitioners for employment under the Government. 
They soon engrossed almost entirely the departmental offices, 
for which, by education and previous position, they were 
especially adapted, or became hangers-on and zealous support- 
ers of the party in power ; while they looked down with a sort 
of aristocratic exclusiveness on the uncultivated, and perhaps 
sometimes uncouth, hard-working yeomanry of the country. 

Others, with a wiser policy, adapted themselves to their 
altered circumstances, and to the condition of the province. 
While learning to swing the axe and hold the plough, they 
preserved, amid the rudest surroundings, the tastes and instincts 
of gentlemen. They became, from their education and cul- 
tivated manners, centres of influence and leaders of opinion in 
the rural communities in which they lived, which tacitly con- 
ceded a superiority which they never would have yielded had it 
been directly asserted. 

The sturdy yeomanry not unnaturally regarded with jealousy 
and aversion the former of tjiese classes, and allied themselves 
with the latter as their legitimate leaders and friends. Thus 
early in the century the origin of parties may be traced in 
Upper Canada — on the one hand, the zealous supporters of an 
irresponsible executive ; on the other, the advocates of a larger 
measure of constitutional liberty. The easy-going Governor 
was dependent for information on his Executive Council, and 
naturally followed their advice. They as naturally favoured 



FOUNDING OF UFPER CANADA. ^ 295 

their friends in the distribution of patronage and bestowment 
of olfice. Over sixty thousand pounds was annually expended 
in presents for the Indian tribes, and complaints of corruption 
in the disbursement of these, and of the supplies for the 
loyalist refugees and immigrants, soon began to be heard. The 
granting of land patents to non-residents, for the purpose of 
speculation was an evil which greatly retarded the progress of 
the country, and led to much agitation and dissatisfaction in 
after times. 

Even the administration of justice did not always command 
popular confidence. The judges were not appointed for life, 
but at the pleasure of the crown, and were sometimes thought 
to be the instruments of the ajppointing power. The magis- 
trates were, for the most part, engaged in trade, and not 
unfrequently were accused of using their official influence in the 
practice of extortion and promotion of their private interests. 
For an illegal decision, an action was brought against a justice 
of the peace, and he was condemned to pay a fine of one 
hundred pounds. On an appeal to the Court of King's Bench, 
an attempt was made to set this verdict aside, and the clerk of 
the court, on the warrant of the crown lawyer, refused to 
issue the execution. These derelictions of justice, and other 
causes of irritation, tended to embitter public feeling, and led 
to strenuous controversies with the dominant party in the 
province. 

Mr. Hunter was succeeded as Governor by Francis Gore, 
Esq. His personable character was estimable, and his isoe. 
j)urposes honest ; but arbitrary power is a dangerous prerogative 
for any man to possess. In his ignorance of the country, he 
depended on his Council, like his predecessor, for information 
and advice. These gentlemen, not unnaturally, desired to 
maintain the privileges of their order and of their friends. The 
complaints of the people found expression in memorials from 
the grand juries to Mr. Thorpe, an upright and honoured judge 
of the King*s Bench, to be by him laid before the Governor. 
Judge Thorpe came to be regarded as the champion of the 
people, and, notwithstanding the utmost opposition of the 



296 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

Government, was elected to the legislature, although he did 
not solicit a single vote. The official "Gazette" violently 
assailed his character. An opposition journal, the "Upper 
Canada Guardian," was established, and a party warfare was 
vigorously persecuted. The Government succeeded in procur- 
ing the recall of Judge Thorpe to Great Britain, where he sued 
Mr. Gore for libel, and obtained a verdict. Mr. Willcocks, 
the editor of the '* Guardian," and, for a time, leader of the 
opposition in the Legislative Assembly, lost his office of sheriff 
on account of his political independence, and was subsequently 
imprisoned in the log jail of York for breach of privilege in 
his trenchant criticism on public affairs.* In 1811, Mr. Gore 
returned to England, leaving the temporary administration of 
government in the hands of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, 
commander-in-chief of His Majesty's forces in Upper Canada. 

Meanwhile the country had steadily prospered, undisturbed 
in its forest isolation by the great European war, which was 
deluging with blood a hundred battlefields and desolating thou- 
sands of homes. By the year 1809, the population had in- 
creased to about seventy thousand. Taxes were exceedingly 
light. The customs revenue, derived principally from the 
imports of groceries — for the clothing was chiefly homespun — 
amounted to £7,000. 

The chief commercial want was a paper currency and banking 
facilities. The lack of money led to a system of barter between 
merchant and consumer, which often inextricably involved the 
latter in debt. Popular education was at a low ebb, although a 
grammar school had been established in each of the eight 
districts into which the province was now divided. From the 
almost untaxed importation of liquors — the duty on spirits 
was only sixpence per gallon, that on wines ninepence — 
intemperance, with its attendant evils, was the prevailing vice. 
The people lived in rude abundance, the virgin soil brought 
forth plentifully, deer roamed in the forest, wild fowl swarmed 

* In the war of 1812-15, Willcocks at first fought loyally for his country, hnt 
afterwards deserted to the Americans, and was killed at the siege of Fort 
Erie. 



FOUNDING OF UPPER CANADA. 297 

in marsh and mere, and the lakes and rivers teemed with the 
finest fish. Homespun, and often home-woven, frieze or flannel 
furnished warm and serviceable clothing. 

The houses, chiefly of logs, rough or squared with the axe, 
though rude, were not devoid of homely comfort. The furni- 
ture, except in towns and villages, was mostly home-made. 
Open fireplaces and out-of-door ovens were the popular sub- 
stitutes for stoves. Oxen were largely employed in tilling the 
soil, and dragging the rude wagons over rough roads. The 
fields were studded with blackened stumps, and the girdling 
forest ever bounded the horizon or swept around the scanty 
clearing. The grain was reaped with the sickle or scythe, 
threshed with the flail, and winnowed by the wind. Grist-mills 
being almost unknown, it was generally ground in the steel 
hand-mills furnished by the Government, or pounded in a large 
mortar, hollowed out of a hardwood stump, by means of a< 
wooden pestle attached to a spring beam. 

The roads were often only blazed paths through the forest, 
supported on transverse corduroy logs where they passed 
through a swamp or marsh. The " Governor's Road," as it 
was called, traversed the length of the province, along the 
St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, and westward to Amherstburg. 
Yonge Street extended from York to the Holland River. Much 
of the early legislation had reference to the construction of 
roads and bridges, chiefly by statute labour. By the liberal and 
paternal policy of the Government toward the Lidian tribes, 
the colonists, unlike the early French and American settlers, 
were relieved of all apprehensions of danger from the red man. 
The judges and crown lawyers made their circuits, when 
possible, in Government schooners,* and the assize furnished 
an opportunity of reviving for a time in the county towns the 
half-forgotten gaieties of fashionable society. In the aristocratic 
circles of York, a mimic representation of Old World court-life 
"was observed, with only partial success. 

* In 1801, tlie " Speedy," a ten-gun vessel, having as passengers Judge Gray 
and several members of the Court of King's Bench, was lost, with all on board, 
on her "way from York to Kingston. * 
38 



298 



mSTORT OF CAXADA. 



Before the War of 1812, there were only four clergymen 
of the Church of England in Upper Canada. The oldest church 
in the province was at the Indian settle- 
ment near Brantford. Its history can 
be traced back to 1784. It is still occu- 
j)ied for public worship. It possesses a 
handsome communion service of beaten 
silver, presented by Queen Anne to the 
Indian chapel on the Mohawk River. Be- 
neath the walls of this humble sanctuary 
repose the ashes of the Mohawk chief, 
Thayendinaga, — Joseph Brant — who gal- 
lantly fought for the British through two 
bloody wars. At the close of the Eevolu- 
tionary War, the loyal Mohawk tribes migrated to the Indian 
reserve on the Grand Eiver. A few Methodist and Presbyterian 
ministers toiled through the wilderness to visit the scattered 
flocks committed to their care. Amid these not altogether 
propitious circumstances were nourished that patriotic and 
sturdy yeomanry that did doughty battle for Britain in the 
ajDproaching war, and many of those noble characters that 
illustrated the future annals of their country ; and then were 
laid the foundations of that goodly civilization amid which we 
live to-day. 




JOSEPH BRANT. 



THE WAR OF 1812-14. 



299 



CHAPTER XXn. 



LOWER CANADA — OUTBREAK OF THE WAR OF 1812-14. 

Inauguration of the New Constitution in Lower Canada, 1792 — McLean's 
Attempt on Quebec — Hia Execution, 1797 — Sir James Craig's Stormy Ad- 
ministration, 1808-11 — Constitutional Crisis — Suppression of "Le Cana- 
dien" — Sir George Prevost, Governor-General — Causes of the War of 
1812-14 — The " Berlin Decree " and " Orders in Council " — The " Right of 
Search" — Sea-Fight between the "Chesapeake" and "Leopard" — Henry's 
" Secret Corrf^spondence " puhlished — War Declared, June 18, 1812 — Repnh- 
lican Anti-War Protest — Position of Comhatants — Canadian Loyalty — 
Hull's Surrender — Battle of Queenston Heights — Death of Brock, October 
13, 1812 — Obsequies of Brock and McDonnell — Their Monument — Smyth's 
Gasconade — His Fiasco at Navy Island, November 18, 1812 — Dearborn's 
Invasion — Repulsed at Lacolle, November 20, 1812 — Naval Engagements — 
The "Constitution" and " Gnerri^re," etc. 

IN 1797, Lord Dorche^er, after twenty years' paternal over- 
sight of Canada, resigned his office of Governor-General, 




PEESCOTT GATE, QUEBEC. 



seeking in private life the repose which his advanced age — he 
was now seventy-two — demanded, and which his protracted and 



300 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

valuable services had faithfully earned.* On his departure, 
the gratitude of the Canadian people found expression in 
numerous addresses of affectionate regard. 

Lord Dorchester "was succeeded as Governor- General by 
Major-General Prescott, an accomplished soldier, of much 
urbanity of manner, and, though firm in the discharge of duty, 
of kindly disposition. He greatly strengthened the defences 
of Quebec, and constructed the gateway between the Upper 
and Lower Town, shown in the engraving, and known by his 
name. The most striking event during his administration, was 
the daring attempt, in the year 1797, of a bankrupt American, 
named McLean, to capture Quebec, by tampering with certain 
of its inhabitants. His designs were detected, and he was 
hanged for high treason, and then beheaded with a display of 
barbarism characteristic of the political executions of a bygone 
age. The commerce of the country continued rapidly to 
develop; the revenue increasing from £5,000 in 1793 to 
£34,000 in 1805. 

A few negro slaves, a heritage from the French regime ^ still 
remained in a state of servitude under their old masters. In 
1803, by a decision of Chief Justice Osgoode of Montreal, 
slavery was declared illegal, and the slaves were at once 
thereby emancipated, f Canada thenceforth became a place 
of refuge for the fugitives from the cruel bondage of the 
Southern States of the neighbouring republic. 

In 1808, Sir James Craig, a veteran military officer, was 
appointed Governor-General, in anticipation of war wdth the 
United States. His administration was characterized by con- 
tinual struggles between the irresponsible executive and the 
elective Assembly, which was regarded as the safeguard of 
popular liberty. 

The Assembly took strong ground against the election of 
judges as members of parliament, and asserted its right of 
control of the financial expenditure. The Council vetoed its 

* He lived on to the ripe old age of eighty -three, and died in the year 1808. 
t In 1784, there -were only three hundred and four in the province. At the 
time of emancipation the number was probably much less. 



THE WAR OF 1812-14. 301 

acts, and the Governor dissolved the House, 1809. The new 
parliament proved still more refractory, and was, in turn, 
peremptorily dissolved, 1810. The country was thro"v\Ti into 
a ferment. The British population generally sided with the 
Governor and Council, the French with the refractory Assem- 
bly. During the election which followed, six members of the 
late Oj)i)osition were thrown into prison for alleged treasonable 
practices, as was also the printer of the "Canadien" news- 
paper, the Opposition organ, the press and type of which were 
seized by the Government. The people cried out against this 
despotic exercise of authority, and declared that they were 
living under a " Eeign of Terror." The threatened dead-lock, 
however, was averted by a little mutual concession. The 
imprisoned members were released, and the Judges' Disquali- 
fication Bill passed the legislature, and received the Governor's 
assent. Sir James Craig, greatly broken in health, now 
returned to England, and was succeeded in office by Sir George 
Prevost, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, 1811.* 

"We proceed now to trace the causes which led to the Anglo- 
American war of 1812-14. 

For sometime previous to the open rupture of 1812, public 
feeling in the United States had become increasingly hostile to 
Great Britain. The "Berlin Decree" of Napoleon, issued 
November 1, 1806, declared a blockade of the entire British 
coast, and let loose French privateers against her shipping, 
and that of neutral nations trading with her. Great Britain 
retaliated by the celebrated " Orders in Council," which isot. 
declared all traffic with France contraband, and the vessels 
prosecuting it, with their cargoes, liable to seizure. These 
restrictions pressed heavily on neutrals, especially on the 
United States, which now engrossed much of the carrying trade 
of the world. The Democratic majority in the Union, there- 
fore, bitterly resented the British "Orders," although com- 

* In 1809, the Hon. John Molson of Montreal, launched the first steamboat 
on the St. Lawrence. It made the trip to Quebec in thirty-six hours. Four 
years previously, Fulton navigated the Hudson Eiver in the first steamboat 
known. 



302 ' HISTORY OF CANADA. 

placently overlooking the " Berlin Decree " by which they were 
provoked, and which was equally hostile to American com- 
merce. President Jefferson now laid an embargo on all ship- 
ping, domestic or foreign, in the harbours of the United 
1808. States. For this Congress, the following year, substi- 
tuted a Non-Intercourse Act, prohibiting all commerce with 
either belligerent till the obnoxious ' ' Decree " or " Orders " 
were repealed. Severe injury was thus inflicted on both 
Great Britain and America, which tended to their mutual 
exasperation. 

Another cause conspired to fan the war feeling to a flame. 
Great Britain, pressed by the difficulty of manning her immense 
fleets, asserted the "right of search" of American vessels for 
deserters from her navy. The United States frigate ''Chesa- 
peake " resisted this right, sanctioned by international law, but 
was compelled by a broadside from H. M. Ship "Leopard" 
(June, 1807) to submit, and to deliver up four deserters found 
among her crew. The British Government disavowed the 
violence of this act and offered reparation. But the Democratic 
party was clamorous for war, and eager to seduce from their 
allegiance and annex to the United States the provinces of 
British North America. The world was to witness the strange 
spectacle of the young Republic of the West leagued with the 
arch-despot Napoleon, against almost the sole champion of 
constitutional liberty in Europe.* 

Public resentment in the United States was still further 
exasperated by the publication of the secret correspondence of 
a Captain Henry, a renegade adventurer, sent by Sir James 
Craig, Governor-General of Canada, in 1809, to ascertain the 
state of feeling in New England toward Great Britain. He 
reported a disposition to secede from the Union, and sub- 
sequently offered his correspondence to the American Govern- 
ment, demanding therefor the exorbitant sum of $50,000, which 

* In May, 1811, a collision occurred between the British and American war 
vessels — "Little Belt," 18 guns, and "President," 44 guns — resulting in the 
defeat of the former with the loss of eleven men ; hut both nations disavowed 
hostile intent. 



THE WAR OF 1812-14. 303 

he received from the secret service fund. His information was 
unauthentic and unimportant, and the British Government 
repudiated his agency, but the war party in the Congress was 
implacable. "War was precipitately declared June 18, 1812, 
in the hope of intercepting the West Indian fleet, and of over- 
inmning Canada before it could be aided by Great Britain. 
Almost simultaneoilsly, the obnoxious " Orders in Council," the 
chief ostensible cause of the war, were repealed, but the news 
produced no change in American policy. 

The Eepublican party of the United States, however, which 
was predominant in its northern section, and comprised the 
more moderate and intelhgent part of the nation, was strenu- 
ously opposed to the action of Congress. A convention was 
held at Albany, protesting against the war and against an 
alliance with Napoleon, " every action of whose life demon- 
strated a thirst for universal empire and for the extinction of 
human freedom." At Boston, on the declaration of hostilities, 
the flags of the shipping were placed at half-mast as a sign of 
mourning, and a public meeting denounced the war as ruinous 
and unjust. 

The position of the parties to this contest was very unequal. 
Great Britain was exhausted by a war by sea and land of 
nearly twenty years' duration. Canada was unprepared for the 
conflict. She had less than six thousand troops* to defend 
fifteen hundred miles of fi»ontier. Her entire population was 
imder three hundred thousand, while that of the United States 
was eight millions, or in the proportion of twenty-seven to one. 
The Americans relied on the reported disafiection of the 
provinces with British rule. In this they were egregiously 
mistaken. Forgetting their political differences, the Canadians 
rallied with a spontaneous outburst of loyalty to the support of 
the Government. Even the American immigrants, with scarce 
an exception, proved faithful to their adopted country. The 
legislature of Lower Canada voted the issue of army bills to 

* The entire number -was 3,783 infantry of the line, 1,226 fencibles, and 445 
artilleiy — 5,454 of all arms. There were also one or two armed brigs, and a 
few gunboats on the lakes. 



304 ^ HISTORT OF CANADA. 

the amount of £250,000, and, together with the Upper Canadian 
parliament, took vigorous measures for the organization and 
drill of the militia, and placed them at the disposal of the 
military authorities. The employment of Indians on both sides 
seems to have been an unfortunate necessity. They could not 
be induced to remain neutral when war was raging, and their 
savage instincts often led to acts of cruelty of which the 
principals in the conflict bore the blame. 

On the declaration of war, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, a 
gallant officer and skilful civil ruler, who, in the absence of Mr. 
Gore, administered the Government of Upper Canada, resolved 
to strike the first blow. He ordered an attack on Fort Michilli- 
mackinac, an important post, defended by seventy-five men, 
which commanded the entrance to Lake Michigan. It was 
surprised by Captain Eoberts, with a force of forty-five regulars 
from the British post of St. Joseph, on Lake Huron, and a large 
number of voyageurs and Indians, and taken without the loss 
of a man (July 17). Thus was a valuable strategic position 
secured, and the northwest Indians were confirmed in their 
allegiance to the British. 

The American plan of attack was to invade Canada with three 
armies, on the Detroit and Magara frontiers, and by way of 
Lake Champlain. General Hull, on the 12th of July, crossed 
the Detroit Eiver at Sandwich, with twenty-five hundred men. 
In a pompous proclamation, he summoned the Canadians to 
surrender, offering them the alternatives of "peace, liberty, 
and security," or "war, slavery, and destruction." They 
spurned his offers and defied his threats. Brock issued a 
counter-proclamation at Fort George, Niagara, and despatched 
Colonel Proctor with a small body of troops to re-enforce the 
garrison of three hundred men that occupied the dilapidated 
Fort Maiden, at Amherstburg. In attempting an attack upon 
the fort, Hull's forces received a severe repulse from a handful 
of British troops and Indians posted at the Kiver Canard, about 
three miles from Amherstburg. At the mouth of this little 
river, the " Queen Charlotte," sloop-of-war, armed with 
eighteen twenty-four pounders, closely watched the enemy. 



THE WAR OF 1812-14. 305 

The British settlers and the Indians came flocking to the British 
standard, the latter especially being a cause of extreme terror 
to Hull. 

Colonel Proctor now pushed a force across the Detroit Eiver, 
routed a number of the enemy, captured a convoy of pro- 
visions and General Hull's despatches, and cut off his communi- 
cation with Ohio. Hull was completely baffled. He had met 
only sturdy opposition instead of co-operation from the 
Canadians. His forces were weakened by disease, encumbered 
by the sick, and almost mutinous through discontent. He 
therefore recrossed the river to Detroit, leaving only two 
hundred and fifty men in a small fort at Sandwich, who were, 
however, soon afterward withdraAvn. 

Meanwhile, General Brock hastened to the St. Clair by way 
of Niagara and Lake Erie, with all the forces he could collect on 
the route. A council of war was held. Tecumseh, the cele- 
brated Indian chief, who, with his warriors, had excited great 
terror in the minds of the Americans, was present, at the 
request of Brock, who recognized his remarkable military 
abilities. Tecumseh, sketched on a piece of birch-bark, a 
rough plan of Detroit, and of Hull's defences. The British 
commander, although his entire force amounted to only seven 
hundred regulars and militia, and six hundred Indians, resolved 
to attack the enemy, numbering twice as many, and entrenched 
behind earthworks. Brock, therefore, sent a summons to Hull 
to surrender, and, knowing his intense dread of the Indians, 
intimated that, in case of assault, the latter might be beyond 
control. Compliance with the summons being refused, a can- 
nonade was opened on Detroit from a battery on the Cana- 
dian shore, and under cover of the armed vessels, " Qiieen 
Charlotte " and " Hunter," the British force crossed the river. 
Forming his little army in columns, flanked by Indians, 
Brock advanced to the assault. Before he reached the fort, 
however, a flag of truce was displayed. A capitulation was 
soon signed which surrendered Hull's entire force of twenty- 
five hundred men, thirty-three cannon, vast military stores, an 
armed brig, a strong fort, and the whole State of Michigan, 

39 



306 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



August 16. This surrender was a cause of intense chiagrin to 
the Americans, and of patriotic exultation to the Canadians, 
who had thus turned a hostile invasion into a glorious victory. 
The unfortunate Hull, with his officers and soldiers, a thousand 
in number, were sent prisoners to Montreal and Quebec. He 
was released on parole, and was subsequently tried by United 
States court-martial for treason, cowardice, and unsoldier-like 
conduct. On the last charge he was found guilty, and sen- 
tenced to death ; but was reprieved on account of his services 
during the Eevolutionary "War. 

Brock now repaired to the Niagara frontier which was 
threatened by an invasion of the enemy. The people of 
Canada were proud of the young hero, who, in ten days, had 
marched three hundred miles through a difficult country, com- 
pelled the surrender of an entrenched army twice as great as his 
own, and of a country as large as the province of which he was 
the Governor. The achievement of Detroit also won generous 
recognition from the Imperial authorities, and honours and 
decorations were conferred upon him. But before the intelli- 
gence of his new dignities could be received, his heroic spirit 
had passed away from earth. 

For the defence of the menaced Niagara frontier. Brock had 
only some fifteen hundred men, of whom at least one-half 
were militia-men and Indians. On the 
American side of the river, General Yan 
Rensselaer had assembled a force of six 
thousand men for the invasion of Canada. 
To the south of Lake Ontario, a bold es- 
carpment of rock, an old lake margin, runs 
across the country from west to east. 
Through this the Niagara River, in the 
course of ages, has worn a deep and 
gloomy gorge. At the foot of the cliff 
nestled on the west side the hamlet of Queenston, and on the 
east the American village of Lewiston. Here, early on the 
€old and stormy morning of October the thirteenth, Van Rens- 
selaer crossed with twelve hundred men, under cover of an 




NIAGARA FRONTIER. 



THE WAR OF 1812-14. 307 

American battery. They were held in check for a time by two 
companies of the Forty-ninth Regiment, and a hundred mili- 
tia, under Captain Dennis, and by the fire of two small cannon. 
A part of the invading army having climbed the precipitous 
river-bank by a path thought to be impassable, outflanked the 
British force, and gained a lodgement on the table-land at the 
top of the hill. 

General Brock, hearing the cannonade at Niagara, seven 
miles distant, galloped off in the gray of the morning, with 
his aides-de-camp. Major Glegg and Colonel Macdonell, to 
ascertain if it were a feint or an attack in force. Half-way up 
the heights was a battery manned by twelve men. This the 
Americans had captured, and on it had raised the stars and 
stripes. Having despatched a messenger to Major-General 
Sheaffe, at Fort George, to send up reinforcements, and to open 
fire on Fort Niagara, General Brock determined to recapture 
the battery. Placing himself at the head of a company of the 
Forty-ninth, he charged up the hill under a heavy fire. The 
enemy gave way, and Brock, by the tones of his voice and his 
reckless exposure of his person, inspirited the pursuit of his 
followers. His tall figure, and consj)icuous valour, attracted 
the fire of the American sharpshooters, and he fell pierced 
through the breast by a mortal bullet. *' Don't mind mc ! " he 
exclaimed, "push on the York volunteers;" and, with his 
ebbing life, sending a love-message to his sister in the far-off 
Isle of Guernsey, the brave soul passed away. His aide-de- 
camp, Colonel Macdonell, the Attorney-General of Upper 
Canada, a promising young man of twenty-five, was mortally 
wounded soon after his chief, and died next day. 

Major-General Sheaffe, an officer of American birth, now 
succeeded Brock in command. He mustered, with re-enforce- 
ments from Niagara and Queenston, about nine hundred men 
(of whom half were militia and Indians . ) By a flank movement 
by way of St. David's, he gained the height, and, after a sharp 
action, completely routed the enemy. The York volunteers 
stood fire like veteran soldiers, and the Forty-ninth fought like 
tigers to avenge the death of their beloved commander. At 



308 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

length, after an engagement which had lasted, with several 
interruptions, for more than seven hours, the Americans every- 
where gave way. Pursued by yelling Indians, some, clam- 
bering down the rugged slope, were impaled on the jagged, 
pines ; others, attempting to swim the rapid river, were 
drowned. Nine hundred and fifty men surrendered to Sheaife, 
— a force greater than his own. A hundred were slain, and 
many were wounded. Among the prisoners was Colonel Scott, 
afterwards General Scott, the hero of Mexico and Commander- 
in-Chief of the United States armies. 

The victory of Queenston Heights, glorious as it was, was 
dearly bought with the death, at the early age of forty-three, 
of the hero of Upper Canada, the loved and honoured Brock, 
and of the brave young Macdonell. Amid the tears of war- 
bronzed soldiers, and even of stoical Indians, they were laid in 
one common grave at Fort George ; while the half-mast flags 
and minute-guns of the British and American forts testified the 
honour and esteem in which they were held by friends and foes 
alike. A grateful country has erected on the scene of the 
victory, — one of the grandest sites on earth, — a noble monu- 
ment * to Brock's memory ; and beneath it, side by side, sleeps 
the dust of the heroic chief and his faithful aide-de-camp, — 
united in their death, and not severed in their burial. 

A month's armistice was granted, during which the Ameri- 
cans strengthened their position, and collected on the Niagara 
frontier, between the Falls and Lake Erie, an "army of the 
centre," five thousand strong, to oppose which were only seven 
hundred British regulars and militia. General Smyth, who 

* The first monument, erected in 1824, was partially destroyed with gun- 
powder in 1840, by a miscreant who had been compelled to fly from the 
province on account of his participation in the rebellion of 1837-38. The same 
year an immense patriotic gathering was held upon the spot, and it was unan- 
imously resolved to erect a new and much more splendid monument. On the 
13th of October, 1853, the foundation-stone of the new structure was laid with 
imposing ceremonies, and the remains of the two gallant soldiers were re-in- 
terred on the scene of their victory. In 1859, the monument was inaugurated. 
It is a fluted column, on a massive pedestal, crowned with a Corinthian capital, 
on which stands a colossal statue of General Brock, the whole rising to a 
height of one hundred and eighty-five feet. It was built by the voluntary 



THU WAR OF 1812-14. §09 

had succeeded Yan Rensselaer in command, issued a Napoleonic 
proclamation summoning his "companions in arms" to the 
conquest of Canada. *' Come on, my heroes ! " it concludes, 
<' when you attack the enemy's batteries let your rallying word 
be, * The cannon lost at Detroit, or death.'" At length, before 
daybreak on the morning of November the twenty-eighth — a 
cold, bleak day — a force of four hundred men, in fourteen 
scows, crossed the Niagara to the upper end of Grand Island, 
and captured a four-gun battery, defended by sixteen men of 
the Forty-ninth Regiment. The Americans recrossed the river, 
leaving some forty men, who were soon all captured by the 
British. A larger force, in eighteen scows, now attempted to 
cross the river. A considerable British force had, meanwhile, 
rallied from Fort Erie and Chippewa. In silence they awaited 
the approach of the American flotilla. As they came within 
range, a ringing cheer burst forth, and a deadly volley of mus- 
ketry was poured into the advancing boats. A six-pounder, 
well served by Captain Kirby, shattered two of the boats ; and 
the enemy, thrown into confusion, sought the shelter of their 
own shore. 

General Smyth now paraded his whole force, and sent a 
summons for the surrender of Fort Erie. Colonel Bishopp, its 
commandant, sarcastically invited him to "come and take 
it." After several feints, the attempt was abandoned, and the 
army went into winter quarters. Smyth, a gasconading brag- 
gart, thus kept in check by a force one-sixth of his own, was 
regarded even by his own troops with contempt, and had to fly 

subscriptions of the militia and Indians of Canada, supplemented by a 
parliamentary grant. On the nortb side of the pedestal is tbe following 
inscription : — 

" Upper Canada has dedicated this monument to the memory of the late 
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K. B., Provisional Lieutenant-Governor and 
Commander of the Forces in this Province, whose remains are deposited in the 
vault beneath. Opposing the invading enemy, he fell in action near these 
heights on the 13th of October, 1812, in the forty-third year of his age, revered 
and lamented by the people whom he governed, and deplored by the Sovereign 
to whose service his life had been devoted." 

The cenotaph, near by, marks the siDot where Brock fell. Its corner-stone 
was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1860. 



310 > BISTORT OF CANADA. 

from the cstrnp to escape their indignation. He was even hooted 
and. fired at in the streets of Bufialo, and was, without trial, 
dismissed from the army, — a sad collapse of his vaunting 
ambition. 

In the meanwhile, General Dearborn, with an army of ten 
thousand men, advanced by way of Lake Champlain to the 
frontier. The Canadians rallied en viasse to repel the invasion, 
barricaded the roads with felled trees, and guarded every pass. 
On the 20th of November, before day, an attack was made by 
fourteen hundred of the enemy on the British outpost at 
Lacolle, near Rouse's Point ; but the guard, keeping up a sharp 
fire, withdrew, and the Americans, in the darkness and confu- 
sion, fired into each other's ranks, and fell back in disastrous 
and headlong retreat. The discomfited General, despairing of 
a successful attack on Montreal, so great was the vigilance and 
valour of the Canadians, retired with his " Grand Army of the 
North " into safe winter quarters behind the entrenchments of 
Plattsburg. A few ineffectual border raids and skirmishes, at 
different points of the extended frontier, were characteristic 
episodes of the war during the winter, and, indeed, throughout 
the entire duration of hostilities. 

In their naval engagements the Americans were more suc- 
cessful. On Lake Ontario, Commodore Chauncey equipped a 
strong fleet, which drove the Canadian shipping for protection 
under the guns of the Niagara, York, and Kingston. He 
generously restored the private plate of Sir Isaac Brock, 
captured in one of his prizes. At sea, the American frigates 
" Constitution," and " United States," well armed and manned, 
shattered and captured the British ships *' Guerriere," " Mace- 
donian," and " Java," of far inferior strength and equipment. 
The brig "Wasp" also captured the sloop "Frolic," but, 
with her prize, was soon taken by H. M. S. *' Poictiers." 

In these sea-fights the greatest gallantry was exhibited in the 
dreadful work of mutual slaughter. The vessels reeked with 
blood like a shambles, and, if not blown up or sunk, became 
floating hospitals of deadly wounds and agonizing pain. 

In the United States Congress this unnatural strife of kin- 



THE WAR OF 1812-14. 



311 



dred races was vigorously denounced by some of the truest 
American patriots. Mr. Quincy, of Massachusetts, charac- 
terized it as the ' * most disgraceful in history since the invasion 
of the buccaneers." But the Democratic majority persisted in 
their stern policy of implacable war. 

The patriotism and valour of the Canadians were, however, 
fully demonstrated. With the aid of a few regulars, the loyal 
militia had repulsed large armies of invaders, and not only 
maintained the inviolable integrity of their soil, but had also 
conquered a considerable portion of the enemy's territory. 



312 HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 

Liberal Parliamentary Grants — Construction of Navy on the Lakes — Proctor 
at French Town — Plan of Campaign — York taken by General Pike, April 
27 — Fort George taken — Vincent Eetreats to Burlington Heights, May 27 — 
Americans Kouted at Stony Creek, June 6 — Lieutenant Fitzgibbon Captures 
Five Hundred Americans at Beaver Dams, June 28 — Prevost and Yeo's 
Attack on Sackett's Harbour, May 29 — Second Capture of York by Chaun- 
cey, July 23 — Chauncey is Defeated by Yeo off Niagara, August 10 — Proc- 
tor Defeats Harrison at Fort Meigs, May 5 — Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, 
September 10 — Proctor's Defeat at Moravian Town, October 5 — Death of 
Tecumseh — Wilkinson's Advance on Montreal — Battle of Chrysler's Farm, 
November 12 — Hampton's Invasion of Canada — Eepulsed at Chateauguay, 
October 26 — McClure Evacuates and Burns Niagara, December 10 — Fort 
Niagara Taken, and Lewiston, Black Rock, and Buffalo Burned December 
18-30— Naval Duel of "Chesapeake" and "Shannon," June 1 — The "En- 
terprise " and "Boxer" — The Superiority of the American Navy. 

BY both belligerents preparations were made for the cam- 
paign of 1813 with redoubled zeal. The legislature of 
Lower Canada authorized the issue of army bills to the amount 
of £500,000, and that of Upper Canada passed an Act prohib- 
iting, in anticipation of a scarcity of food, the exportation of 
grain and restricting the distillation of spirits therefrom. The 
sale of liquor to Indians was also prohibited. During the 
winter, the "King's Regiment," of New Brunswick, marched 
on snow-shoes through the wilderness, by way of the valley of 
the St. John and Lake Temiscouta to the St. Lawrence. They 
subsequently rendered great service during the campaign. 

.The Americans gave special attention to the construction 
of strong, if roughly finished, vessels on lakes Champlain, 
Ontario, and Erie. The British Government, severely taxed 
by the war with Napoleon, could send few re-enforcements to 
America, and an incompetent naval administration neglected 
the equipment of vessels for the lakes. Very tardily, a few 
vessels were constructed at Kingston, York, and Chippewa, at 



TEE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 813 

the extravagant cost, it is said, of £1,000 per ton. To a 
country abounding with the best of timber, English oak and 
all other material and equipment were transported across the 
ocean, even to the superfluity on our '* unsalted seas " of casks 
for the stowage of fresh water. All military stores had to be 
conveyed with incredible labour, in open batteaux, up the 
rapids of the St. Lawrence under the fire of the gun-batteries 
on the American shore. More than one brigade of boats was 
attacked and captured, or defended with great valour and loss 
of life on both sides. 

Even during the rigours of the winter of 1812-13, the 
horrors of war did not cease. Marauding parties from Ogdens- 
burg ravaged the Canadian frontier, and carried off fifty-two of 
the inhabitants of Brockville prisoners. A severe retaliation 
followed. On the 21st of February, Major Macdonell, with 
four hundred and eighty men, crossed at daylight on the ice 
from Prescott to Ogdensburg, and in an hour the American 
fort, defended by a superior force, was captured, with a large 
amount of stores. 

In the "West, Colonel Proctor still held Detroit for the British. 
General Winchester, in the middle of January, attacked and 
occupied one of his outposts at French Town, on the Raisin 
Eiver, about twenty-six miles from Detroit toward the south. 
Proctor advanced rapidly with eleven hundred militia, regulars, 
and Indians, and, at daybreak, fell upon the American camp. 
After a severe action, in which many were slain amid the 
wintry snows, Winchester surrendered with five hundred men. 
As the reward of his gallantry. Proctor was raised to the rank 
of Brigadier-General. The American loss was some two hun- 
dred and fifty, that of the British was twenty-four killed and 
one hundred and fifty wounded. The victory, however, was 
tarnished by the cruelty of the Indian allies of the British, 
who, unamenable to control, massacred several of the wounded. 
The American Congress bitterly inveighed against the atrocities 
of the savages. It also ordered the execution of a number of 
Canadian prisoners, should certain American militia, captured 
by the British and sent to England to be tried as traitors, 

40 



314 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

receive any harm. Sir George Prevost, the Governor-General, 
threatened to execute two American prisoners for every Cana- 
dian shot or hanged by the United States authorities. The 
latter menaced similar retaliation ; and thus, under the exas- 
perating and barbarizing influence of war, the hostile passions 
of the combatants were inflamed. 

The American plan of the campaign of 1813 included the 
mastery of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the capture of the 
forts on the Niagara frontier, at York, and at Kingston, and the 
reduction of the entire western peninsula. A concentration of 
forces on Montreal and Quebec, it was thought, would then 
drive the union-jack from the valley of the St. Lawrence. 

In pursuance of this design, Commodore Chauncey, with 
fourteen vessels and seventeen hundred men^ under the com- 
mand of Generals Dearborn and Pike, left Sackett's Harbour, 
and early on the morning of April 27, lay off the shore a little 
to the west of the town of York, which was garrisoned by only 
six hundred men, including militia and dockyard men, under 
General SheaflTe. Under cover of a heavy fire, which swept 
the beach, the Americans landed, drove in the British outposts, 
which stoutly contested every foot of ground, and made a dash 
for the dilapidated fort, which the fleet meanwhile heavily 
bombarded. Continual re-enforcements enabled them to fiffht 
their way to within two hundred yards of the earthen ramparts, 
when the defensive fire ceased. General Pike halted his 
troops, thinking the fort about to surrender. Suddenly, with 
a shock like an earthquake, the magazine blew up, and hurled 
into the air two hundred of the attacking column, together with 
Pike, its commander. Several soldiers of the retiring British 
garrison were also killed. This act, which has been defended 
as justifiable in order to prevent the powder from falling into 
the hands of the enemy, and as in accordance with the recog- 
nized code of war, was severely denounced by the Americans, 
and imparted a tone of greater bitterness to the subsequent 
contest. 

The town being no longer tenable. General Sheafle, after 
destroying the naval stores and a vessel on the stocks, retreated 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 315 

with the regulars towards Kingston. Colonel Chewett, and 
three hundred militia-men, were taken prisoners, the public 
buildings burned, and the military and naval stores which 
escaped destruction, were carried off. In this action the Ameri- 
can loss was over three hundred, and that of the British nearly 
half as great. For abandoning the capital Sheaffe was super- 
seded, as Commander-in-Chief in Upper Canada, by Major- 
General De Rottenburg. 

On the 2d of May Dearborn re-embarked his forces, and the 
fleet made for the mouth of the Kiagara. It was, on account 
of adverse winds, six days before he could land his troops 
under the protection of the American fort. Here he remained 
inactive for three weeks, while Chauncey conveyed the 
wounded to Sackett's Harbour, and brought up re-enforce- 
ments. On the 26th of May, at early dawn, Chauncey 's ships, 
some fifteen in number, lay in crescent form off Fort George, at 
Niagara, which was garrisoned by Colonel Vincent with about 
fourteen hundred men. In consequence of the Americans 
possessing control of the lake, the fort was ill-supplied with 
powder and other necessary military stores. Under a heavy 
fire from Fort Niagara, on the American side of the river, and 
from the fleet. Fort George was severely injured and rendered 
almost untenable. The following morning Colonel Scott, with 
eight hundred American riflemen, effected a landing. They 
were promptly met by a body of British regulars and militia, 
and compelled to take refuge under cover of the steep bank 
which lined the beach to the north of the town. From this 
position they kept up a galling fire on the British troops in the 
open field. The broadsides of the fleet also swept the plain, 
and wrought great havoc among the brave militia defending 
their native soil. To escape the deadly sweep of the cannon 
they were obliged to prostrate themselves in the slight depres- 
sions in the plain. Notwithstanding the inequality of numbers, 
the main body of the enemy were three times repulsed before 
they could gain a foothold on the beach. At length, after three 
hours' desperate struggle, a hostile force of six thousand men 



316 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

stood upon the plain.* Of Vincent's meagre force, fifty were 
killed, and three hundred wounded or captured. His ammu- 
nition was well-nigh exhausted, and his fort almost in ruins. 
He therefore spiked his guns, blew up his shattered works, 
and, confronted by a force six times greater than his own, 
retired on Queenston Heights. The loss of the enemy was 
one hundred and fifty killed and wounded. 

The next day, having withdrawn the garrisons from the 
frontier forts on the Niagara River, he retreated with sixteen 
hundred men toward the head of the lake, and took up a strong 
position on Burlington Heights, near Hamilton. Dearborn 
despatched a force of three thousand men, with two hundred 
and fifty cavalry and nine field-pieces, under Generals Chandler 
and Winder, to dislodge him. On the 6th of June they 
encamped at Stony Creek, seven miles from Vincent's lines. 
The position of the latter was critical. Niagara and York had 
. both been captured. Before him was a victorious foe. His 
ammunition was reduced to ninety rounds. He was extricated 
from his peril by a bold blow. Colonel John Harvey, having 
reconnoitered the enemy's position, proposed a night attack. 
Vincent heartily co-operated. At midnight, with seven hundred 
British bayonets, they burst upon the American camp. A 
fierce fight ensued, in which the enemy were utterly routed. 
The British, unwilling to expose their small number to a still 
superior force, retired before daybreak, with four guns and a 
hundred prisoners, including both of the American generals. 
The victory, however, was purchased with the loss of two 
hundred men killed or missing. The fugitives, after destroying 
their camp stores and leaving the dead unburied, retreated to 
Forty Mile Creek, where they efiected a junction with General 
Lewis, advancing to their aid with two thousand men. At 
daybreak on the 8th of June, the American camp was shelled 
by Commodore Yeo's fleet. The enemy retreated to Fort 
George, abandoning their tents and stores, which were captured 

* The details of the account ahove given "vrere narrated to the author by an 
actor in the events described. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 317 

by Vincent. Their baggage shipped by batteaux to the fort 
was either taken by the fleet or abandoned on the shore. 

The invaders soon met with another reverse. Colonel 
Boerstler, on the 28th of June, with five hundred and seventy 
men, including fifty cavalry and two field-pieces, advanced to 
dislodge a British picket at Beaver Dams (near Thorold). 
Mrs. Secord, an heroic Canadian wife, whose husband had been 
wounded at Queenston Heights, and whose house had been 
pillaged by the Americans, walked twenty miles through the 
woods to give warning of the attack. Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, 
with a handful of soldiers and two hundred Indians, made such 
a skilful disposition of his forces as gave the impression that 
he had a large body of troops at his command. After a sharp 
engagement of two hours, Fitzgibbon summoned Boerstler to 
surrender, which, to the great surprise of the former, he did. 
The number of prisoners was twice that of their captors, and 
the disgraceful surrender was a cause of intense chagrin to the 
Americans. The opportune arrival of Major De Keren, with 
two hundred men, furnished a sufficient force to guard the 
prisoners. 

Dearborn, whose forces were wasted away by disease, 
famine, and the fortunes of war, to about four thousand men, 
was now beleagured in Fort George by Vincent with less than 
half the number of troops. The British now assumed the 
oflFensive, and on the morning of the American national 
anniversary, the fourth of July, a small force of Canadian 
militia under Colonel Clark crossed at daybreak from Chippewa 
to Fort Schlosser, captured the guard, and carried off a large 
quantity of provisions and ammunition, of which they were in 
much need. 

A week later, Colonel Bishopp, with two hundred and forty 
regulars ^nd militia, crossed before day from Fort Erie to the 
important American post of Black Rock. The enemy were 
completely taken by surprise, and the block-houses, barracks, 
dock-yard, and one vessel, were destroyed; and seven guns, 
two hundred stand of arms, and a large quantity of provisions 
captured. A strong force of American regulars and militia, 



318 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

and a number of Seneca Indians, soon rallied and inflicted a 
severe loss on the British in their retreat. The gallant Bishopp, 
a promising young officer, and thirteen men were killed, and a 
large number wounded. 

In accordance with the British policy of strengthening the 
naval force on the lake. Sir James Yeo, a distinguished officer, 
with four hundred and fifty seamen, had, early in the month of 
May, arrived at Kingston. Prompt preparations were made 
for active demonstrations against the enemy. The American 
fleet being at the time engaged in the attack on Fort George, at 
Niagara, Sir George Prevost, the Governor-General and Com- 
mander-in-Chief, resolved to make a descent on Sackett's 
Harbour, the American naval station at the foot of Lake 
Ontario. On May 27th, the day of the capture of Fort 
George, Sir James Yeo, with seven armed vessels and a thou- 
sand men, under the personal command of Sir George Prevost, 
sailed from Kingston to destroy the shipping and stored of that 
principal American naval depot on the lakes. After the troops 
had been placed in barges for the attack, Prevost, having 
reconnoitered the works, deemed them too strong for the force 
at his command, and gave orders for an inglorious return to 
Kingston. A couple of scores of Indians in their bark canoes, 
however, so terrified a party of seventy American troops, that 
they surrendered to the British. Sir George, finding the foe 
less formidable than he feared, decided on an attack the 
following day. But his impromptitude proved fatal to his 
design. The delay gave time for the militia to rally, and the 
landing of the British was stoutly opposed. Nevertheless, the 
assault was successful ; the Americans everywhere gave way, 
and had already fired the barracks, naval stores, and shipping, 
when, to the intense chagrin of his victorious troops, the over- 
cautious Prevost ordered a retreat. He justified his, action by 
his lack of artillery to batter the block-houses, and mistook, it 
is said, the commotion of the enemy's flight for that of 
re-enforcements. The fugitive Americans returned and rescued 
from the flames a large vessel on the stocks. The loss of naval 
stores, however, was great, including those just captured at 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 3I9 

York. The British loss was one officer and forty-seven men 
killed and twelve officers and nearly two hundred men wounded 
or missing. The loss of the enemy was correspondingly heavy. 
The country, however, was greatly disappointed to have victory 
snatched from the British arms at the very hour of its achieve- 
ment through the incompetence — no milder phrase can be 
used — of the commander-in-chief. It was felt that the gallant 
Brock had not yet found his successor. 

Sir James Yeo made another attempt to surprise Sackett's 
Harbour and destroy the American ship "Pike," which was 
being fitted out for active service. The design was divulged, 
however, by two deserters, and its accomplishment thus frus- 
trated. 

In the month of July, Commodore Chauncey again appeared 
on Lake Ontario, with a largely augmented American fleet. 
With Colonel Scott and a force of infantry and artillery, he 
sailed for Burlington Heights, to destroy a quantity of British 
stores at that place, which was the principal depot of Vincent's 
army. A body of Glengary Fencibles had been sent from York 
to protect the depot, thus leaving the capital defenceless. 
Chauncey therefore sailed for York, and Scott, landing without 
opposition on the 23d of July, burned the barracks, and such 
public buildings as had previously escaped, broke open the jail, 
and plundered both private and public stores. Chauncey then 
sailed for the Niagara. On the 8th of August, he came out of the 
river to give battle to Yeo's fleet of six vessels — less than half 
his own number. A running fight of two days' duration ensued. 
In endeavouring to escape from the British, two American 
vessels, the <' Scourge," of eight, and the " Hamilton," of nine 
guns, capsized under press of sail, and went to the bottom with 
all on board, except sixteen men, who were rescued by the 
boats of the British fleet. Chauncey lost two other vessels by 
capture, and was glad again to seek refuge in Sackett's Harbour. 

On the 28th of September the rival fleets again met in hostile 
encounter, after manoeuvering for several days with scarcely the 
exchange of a shot. A sharp engagement between the flagships 
"Wolfe" and "Pike," each commemorating the name of a 



320 EISTORT OF CANADA. 

slain commander, now ensned. The << Wolfe" lost her main 
and mizzen topmasts, and but for the interposition of the 
*' Eoyal George " between herself and the " Pike," must have 
surrendered. As it was, Yeo, with his fleet, took refuge under 
Burlington Heights, and Chauncey stood off for Sackett's 
Harbour, capturing on the way five out of seven small vessels 
from York, together with two hundred and fifty men of 
De Watteville's regiment, intended to strengthen the garrison 
at Kingston. 

In the meanwhile stirring events were transpiring in the 
West. General Harrison, notwithstanding the disastrous defeat 
of Winchester, was determined if possible to drive the British 
out of Michigan. For this purpose he had, early in the spring, 
established a rendezvous at Fort Meigs, on the Miami River, 
near the western extremity of Lake Erie, and formed a depot 
of stores and provisions. The expense of victualling his army 
was enormous. It is estimated that every barrel of flour cost 
the American Government a hundred dollars. Stores of all 
kinds had to be carried on the backs of pack-horses through an 
almost pathless wilderness, and few of the animals survived 
more than one journey. It is estimated that the transport of 
each cannon to the lakes cost a thousand dollars. 

In the month of May, Colonel Proctor, with about a thousand 
regulars and militia and as many Indians, who were led by the 
brave chief, Tecumseh, invested the fort. But the small field- 
guns of the assailants could make little impression against the 
earthworks, and the Indians, however skilful in forest warfare, 
could not be induced to make an assault upon an entrenched 
enemy. 

Harrison, being re-enforced by twelve hundred men, made a 
vigorous sally ; but, after a temporary success, he was driven 
back with the loss of seven hundred men, killed or wounded. 
Several of the prisoners, it is alleged, were massacred by the 
implacable Indians, notwithstanding the most strenuous efforts 
to save them, of Tecumseh and the British soldiers. A number 
of the latter were wounded and one was killed in endeavouring 
to protect the prisoners. This tragical circumstance stained the 



THE CAMPAIGX OF 1813. 321 

laurels of Proctor's victory. In a subsequent attack on the 
American fort at Sandusky, Proctor was less successful. He 
was repulsed with heavy loss ; his fickle Indian allies returned 
to their homes, and he was compelled to fall back upon the 
feeble fortifications of Amherstburg. 

Meanwhile, two squadrons were preparing to contest the 
supremacy of Lake Erie. Perry, the American commodore, 
had nine vessels well-manned with experienced seamen, to the 
number of nearly six hundred, from the now idle merchant 
marine of the United States. Barclay, the British captain, had 
only fifty sailors to six vessels, the rest of the crew being made 
up of two hundred and forty soldiers and eighty Canadians. 
After alternately blockading each other in the harbours of 
Presqu' Isle and Amherstburg, the hostile fleets met on the 10th 
of September in the shock of battle, off Put-in Bay, at the 
western end of Lake Erie. Perry's flagship soon struck her 
colours, but Barclay, his own ship a wreck, could not even 
secure the prize. Through the lack of naval skill of the 
inexperienced landsmen, the British ships fouled, and were 
helplessly exposed to the broadsides of the enemy. The 
heavier metal of Perry's guns soon reduced them to unmanage- 
able hulks. The carnage was dreadful. In three hours, all 
their officers and half of their crews were killed or wounded. 
Perry despatched to Washington the sententious message : 
*' We have met the enemy. They are ours." 

The result of this defeat was most disastrous. All the 
advantages resulting from Brock's victory over Hull in the 
previous year were forfeited. Michigan was lost to the British, 
not again to be recovered. Proctor, short of provisions, cut off 
from supplies, exposed in flank and rear, and attacked in force 
in front, could only retreat. He dismantled the forts at Detroit 
and Amherstburg, destroyed the stores and public buildings, 
and fell back along the Thames with eight hundred and thirty 
white men, and five hundred Indians, under Tecumseh. Harrison 
followed rapidly with three thousand five hundred men, several 
hundred of whom were cavalry, of which Proctor had none. 
He fell upon the British rear-guard at Moraviantown, October 

41 



322 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

4, and captured over a hundred prisoners, and all the stores 
and ammunition. Proctor was forced the following day to fight 
at a disadvantage, on ill-chosen ground. He had also neglected 
to break down the bridges behind him, or to defend his position 
with breastworks, and only six hundred men were brought into 
action against sixfold odds. The mounted Kentucky riflemen 
rode through and through the British ranks, dealing death on 
every side. The brave Tecumseh was slain at the head of his 
warriors. He had fought desperately, even against the mounted 
riflemen. Springing at their leader, Colonel Johnson, he 
drasfired him to the earth. The draojoons rallied around their 
chief, and Tecumseh fell, pierced with bullets. The rout was 
complete. Proctor, with a shattered remnant of his troops, 
retreated through the forest to Burlington Heights, where, with 
two hundred and forty war-wasted men, he efiected a junction 
with Vincent's command, which had been compelled for a time 
to raise the siege of Fort George, and take up its' old position. 
Harrison, the American general, assumed the nominal govern- 
ment of the western part of Upper Canada. 

The Americans were now free to concentrate their eiforts on 
the reduction of Kingston and Montreal. Wilkinson, Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the forces on the Niagara and Upper St. 
Lawrence frontiers, received instruction to efiect a junction 
with the " Army of the North" about to advance from Lake 
Champlain for the subjugation of Lower Canada. There were 
comparatively few British troops in the lower province, and 
only three thousand active militia under General Sheaffe, for 
the protection of a thousand miles of frontier. 

In pursuance of the American plan of invasion, on the 24th 
of October, an army of nine thousand men, with ample artil- 
lery, under General "Wilkinson, rendezvoused at Grenadier 
Island, near Sackett's Harbour ; but the stone forts of Kings- 
ton, garrisoned by two thousand men mider De Eottenburg, 
protected that important naval station from attack even by a 
fourfold force. Wilkinson, therefore, embarking his army iii 
three hundred batteaux, protected by twelve gun-boats, in the 
bleak November weather threaded the watery- mazes of the 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1S13. 



823 



Thousand Islands in his menacing advance on Montreal. A 
British *' corx^s of observation," eight hundred strong, under 
Colonel Morrison, followed the enemy along the river-bank. 
A number of gun-boats also hung on the rear of the American 
flotilla, and kejDt up a teasing fire, to their great annoyance and 
injury. "Wilkinson slowly made his way down the St. Law- 
rence, halting his army from time to time, to repel attack. 
Near Prescott, his flotilla of batteaux suffered considerably 
by a cannonade from the British batteries as they were pass- 
ing that place on a moonlight night. The molestation that he 
received from Morrison's corps and from the loyal local militia, 
was so great that he was forced to land strong brigades on the 
Canadian shore in order to secure a passage for his boats. At 
the head of the Long Sault Rapids, Wilkinson detached Gen- 
eral Boyd with a force of over two thousand men, to crush the 
opposing British corps. The collision took place at Chrysler's 
Farm, — a name thenceforth of potent memory. The battle- 
ground was an open field, with the river on the right, the 
woods on the left. For two hours the conflict raged. But 
Canadian valour and discipline prevailed over twofold odds, 
and the Americans retreated to their boats, leaving behind one 
of their guns captured by the British. Their loss in this 
engagement was over three hundred killed and wounded, — 
more than twice that of their opponents. Wilkinson's disor- 
ganized force precipitately descended the Long Sault Eapids, 
and awaited at St. Regis the approach of Hampton's army. It 
was destined to wait in vain. 

The invasion of Canada by way of Lake Champlain had also 
been attended with serious disasters. To these events we will 
now briefly advert. On the morning of the 3d of June the British 
commandant at Isle-aux-Noix beheld, sailing up the narrows of 
the lake to attack his fort, two American vessels. He promptly 
manned two small gun-boats, and despatched a land force, 
which, together, soon compelled the surrender of the American 
vessels, — two staunch craft of eleven guns each, together with 
a hundred prisoners. The "Growler" and "Eagle," such 
were their designations, were promptly re-named the "Shan- 



324: 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 



non" and *' Blake," and employed in active service against the 
enemy. They wei^e manned by the crew of the brig-of-war 
"Wasp," lying at Quebec, and, on the 29th of July, sailed 
with a force of nine hundred regulars and militia under Colonel 
Murray for Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, "where was an 
entrenched camp, guarded by fifteen hundred American militia. 
Here Murray captured or destroyed an immense quantity of 
stores, and burned the newly-built barracks for four thousand 
men. The "Shannon" and "Blake," with the gun-boats, 
proceeded to Burlington and destroyed four American vessels, 
leaving the British masters of the lake. 

Early in September, General Hampton, with a well-appointed 
army of five thousand men, advanced from Lake Champlain, 
with a view to a junction with "Wilkinson's army, and a com- 
bined attack on Montreal. On the 21st of October he crossed 
the border, and pushed forward his forces along both sides of 
the Chateauguay River. Sir George Prevost called for a levy 
of the sedentary militia, who rallied loyally for the defence of 
their country. Colonel De Salaberry, with four hundred Yolti- 

geurs, — sharpshooters every one, 
— took up a strong position at 
the junction of the Chateauguay 
with the Outarde, defended by a 
breastwork of logs and abattis. 
General Izzard, with a column 
three thousand five hundred 
strong, attempted to dislodge 
him. The Voltigeurs held the 
enemy well in check, till they 
were in danger of being sur- 
rounded by sheer force of num- 
,bers. By a clever ruse, De Salaberry distributed his buglers 
widely through the woods in his rear, and ordered them to 
sound the charge. The enemy, thinking themselves assailed 
in force, everywhere gave way, and retreated precipitately 
from the field. Hampton soon retired across the borders to his 
entrenched camp at Plattsburg. Wilkinson, sick in body and 




COLONEL DE SALABERRY. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 325 

chagrined in mind, learning the shameful defeat of the " Grand 
Army of the North," abandoned the idea of further advance on 
Montreal, scuttled his boats and batteaux, and retired into 
winter quarters on the Salmon River, within the United States 
boundary. Here he formed an entrenched camp, and sheltered 
his defeated army in wooden huts all the following spring. 

Thus the patriotism and valour of some fifteen hundred 
Canadian troops hurled back from our country's soil two invad- 
ing armies of tenfold strength, and made the names of Chrys- 
ler's Farm and Chateauguay memories of thrilling power, and 
pledges of the inviolable liberty of our land. 

We now return to trace the progress of events in Upper 
Canada. After the British disasters on Lake Erie, and at 
Moravian Town, Sir George Prevost instructed Vincent to 
fall back on Kingston, abandoning the western peninsula to the 
enemy, a desperate resolve, only to be adopted in the last 
extremity. At a council of war held at Burlington Heights, 
however, it was wisely decided by Vincent and his officers to 
stand their ground as long as possible. Colonel McClure, the 
commandant of the American force, was strongly posted at 
Twenty Mile Creek, and his foraging x^arties ravaged the coun- 
try, and pillaged the inhabitants. Vincent detached Colonel 
Murray, with a force of five hundred regulars and Indians, to 
drive in the maurading parties of the enemy. 

McClure, fearing an attack in force, fell back on Niagara and 
Fort George, and, learning the disastrous result of the cam- 
paign in Lower Canada, resolved to evacuate the fort and 
abandon the country. This he accordingly did, with all his 
troops, on the 10th of December, and with such precipitancy 
that he left behind him all his tents and stores. His retreat 
was accompanied by an act of inhuman barbarity that has left 
an indelible stigma upon his name. The frost had set in early 
and severe. The snow lay deep upon the ground. Yet at 
thirty minutes' warning, of a hundred and fifty houses in 
Niagara, he fired all save one, and drove four hundred helpless 
women and children, amid the icy rigours of a Canadian win- 
ter, to seek shelter in the log-huts of the scattered settlers, or 



326 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

in the bark wigwams of the wandering Indians. There was 
scarce time to rescue the nurshng babe, and the aged and 
infirm from the doomed dwellings. The wife of Counsellor 
Dickson lay on a sick-bed. Her husband was a prisoner on 
the American side of the river. The unfortunate lady ' ' Avas 
carried, bed and alj, and placed in the snow before her own 
door, where, shivering with cold, she beheld her house and all 
that was in it consumed to ashes." * Of the valuable library, 
which had cost between five and six hundred pounds sterling, 
scarce^ a book escaped. 

The British, who immediately occupied the desolated town, 
soon wreaked a grim revenge for the atrocious act. In a night 
attack by Colonel Murray, with five hundred men, Fort Nia- 
gara, on the American side of the river, was surprised, while 
its garrison was wrapped in sleep, December 18. The sentries 
were bayoneted, the guard overpowered, and the garrison 
awoke from slumber to a death-wrestle with an exasperated foe. 
Three hundred prisoners, three thousand stand of arms, and an 
immense quantity of stores were captured. The British loss 
was eleven ; that of the enemy, seventy-nine killed and 
wounded. 

In ruthless retaliation for the burning of Niagara, the British 
ravaged the American frontier, and gave to the flames the 
thriving towns of Lewiston, Manchester, Black Rock and 
Buffalo. At the latter place, an American force, two thousand 
strong, made a stout resistance, but was defeated, with the loss 
of four hundred men, by the British, with only one-third the 
number of troops, December 30. 

Thus the holy Christmas-tide, God's pledge of peace and 
good-will toward men, rose upon a fair and fertile frontier 
scathed and blackened by wasting and rapine, and the year 
went out in "tears and misery, in hatred and flames and 
blood." 

The commerce of the United States was completely crippled 
by the blockade of her ports, her revenue falling from |24,- 

* James, quoted hj AucMnleck. 



TIIE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. 327 

000,000 to $8,000,000. Admiral Cockbiirn swe^^t the Atlantic 
coast with his fleet, destroying arsenals and naval stores 
wherever his gun-boats could peiietrate. Great Britain also 
recovered her old prestige in more than one stubborn sea-fight 
with a not unworthy foe. On a lovely morning in June, the 
United States frigate *' Chesapeake," of f^rty-nine guns, stood 
out from Boston harbour amid the holiday cheers of a sympa- 
thizing multitude, to answer the challenge to a naval duel of 
II. M. S. ** Shannon," of fifty-two guns. They were soon 
locked muzzle to muzzle in deadly embrace, belching shot and 
grape through each other's sides, while the streaming gore 
incarnadined the waves. The British boarders swarmed on the 
* ' Chesapeake's " deck, and soon, with nearly half her crew 
killed or wounded, she struck her colours to the red-cross flag. 
In five days the shattered and blood-stained vessels crept 
together into Halifax harbour, the American captain, the gal- 
lant Lawrence, lying in his cabin cold in death, the British 
commander, the chivalric Broke, raving in the delirium of a 
desperate wound. The slain captain was borne to his grave 
amid the highest honours paid to his valour by a generous foe. 

With varying fortunes these sea-fights were waged. Shortly 
after the duel of the *' Chesapeake " and " Shannon," the U. 
S. frigate " Argus," of twenty guns, struck to H. M. brig 
"Pelican," of eighteen guns. A few days later, the British 
brig " Boxer," of fourteen guns, surrendered to the U. S. brig 
"Enterprise," of sixteen guns. In one quiet grave, over- 
looking Casco Bay, their rival captains lie buried side by side. 

The clipper-built American vessels were generally superior 
to their slow-sailing British antagonists, constructed on anti- 
quated models. They were thus able to manoeuvre more 
nimbly, to get the weather-gage, and rake with their long- 
range guns the British vessels with fearful eflfect before the 
latter could bring their cannon to bear. The United States 
vessels were also better manned, because her idle merchant 
marine placed a large number of unemployed sailors at the 
disposal of the Government, 



328 HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CAMPAIGN OF 1814. 

Money Grants and Army Stores for the War — Impeachment of Chief Justices 
Sewell and Monk — Colonial Confederation Suggested — Proffered Mediation 
of Russia — General Wilkinson Repulsed at Lacolle Mill, March 13 — Yeo 
and Drummond Capture Oswego, May 6 — Eiall is Defeated at Chippewa, 
July 5 — He is Ee-enforced by Drummond — Battle of Lundy's Lane, July 
25 — Sanguinary ConjQlict — Rout of the Americans — Night Attack on Fort 
Erie — Murderous Explosion, August 13 — Desperate Sortie — Fort Erie 
Evacuated — Prairie du Chien Captured — Maine Surrenders to the British 
— Prevost Advances against Plattsburg — British Fleet on Lake Champlain 
Defeated — Provost's Inglorious Retreat, August 11 — The Launch of the 
"St. Lawrence" gives the British Control of Lake Ontario — Admiral Cock- 
burn Captures Washington and Burns the Capitol, August 23 — Alexandria 
Ransomed — Baltimore Menaced — Peace Concluded at Ghent, December 
24 — General Packenham Defeated by Jackson at New Orleans, January 8, 
1815 — Effects of the War on Canada and the United States — Valour and 
Patriotism of the Canadians. 

PEEPARATIONS for the campaign of 1814 were made on 
both sides with unabated energy. The legislature of 
Lower Canada increased the issue of army bills to the amount 
of £1,500,000, and that of the upper province voted a liberal 
appropriation for military expenditure, and increased the effi- 
ciency of the militia system. Stores of every kind, and in 
vast quantities, were forwarded from Quebec and Montreal by 
brigades of sleighs to Kingston as a centre of distribution for 
western Canada. A deputation of Indian chiefs from the West 
was received at the castle of St. Louis, and sent home laden 
with presents and confirmed in their allegiance to the British. 

The Quebec legislature now revived the political strife, 
dormant since the beginning of the war, by the impeachment 
of Chief Justices Sewell and jMonk, for having invaded the 
privileges of parliament by the advice given Sir James Craig 
for its dissolution and for the imprisonment of the members, 
and for other alleged civil misdemeanours. Governor Prevost 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1814. 329 

sustained tliem in office. Chief Justice Sewell went to Eng- 
land in his own defence, and was received with favour at the 
Colonial Office. He submitted to the Government a scheme 
for the confederation of all the British North American 
colonies. The proposition found favour in high quarters ; but 
it was premature, and not till half a century later was the 
project consummated. 

Early in the year, the Emperor of Russia offered to mediate 
between the belligerents in the interests of peace. Great 
Britain declined his interference, but proposed direct negotia- 
tions with the United States. The commissioners appointed, 
however, did not meet till August, and, meanwhile, the war 
became more deadly and mutually destructive than ever. 

The campaign opened in Lower Canada. General Wilkin- 
son, who had removed his headquarters from Salmon River 
to Plattsburg, advanced with five thousand men from the latter 
place, crossed the Canadian frontier at Odelltown, and pushed 
on to Lacolle, about ten miles from the border. Here a large 
two-story stone mill, with eighteen-inch walls, barricaded and 
loop-holed for musketry, was held by the British who num- 
bered, in regulars and militia, about five hundred men, under 
the command of Major Handcock. Shortly after midday, on 
the 13th of March, General Wilkinson, with his entire force, 
surrounded the mill, being partially covered by neighbouring 
woods, with the design of taking it by assault. As they 
advanced with a cheer to the attack, they were met by such a 
hot and steady fire that they were obliged to fall back to the 
shelter of the woods. The guns were now brought up (an 
eighteen, a twelve, and a six pounder), for the purpose of 
battering, at short range, a breach in the walls of the mill. 
Their fire, however, was singularly ineffective. The British 
sharpshooters picked off the gunners, so that it was exceedingly 
difficult to get the range or to fire the pieces. In a cannonade 
of two hours and a half, only four shots struck the mill. Major 
Handcock, however, determined to attempt the capture of the 
guns, and a detachment of regulars, supported by a company 
of voltigeurs and fencibles, was ordered to charge. In the 
42 



330 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

face of desperate odds they twice advanced to the attack on the 
guns, but were repulsed by sheer weight of opposing numbers. ^ 
The day wore on. The ammunition of the beleaguered garri- 
son was almost exhausted. Yet no man spoke of surrender. 
For five hours this gallant band of five hundred men withstood 
an army of tenfold numbers. At length, incapable of forcing 
the British position, the enemy fell back, bafiled and defeated, 
to Plattsburg, and for a time the tide of war ebbed away from 
the frontier of Lower Canada. 

With the opening of navigation hostilities were resumed on 
Lake Ontario. During the winter, two new vessels had been 
built at Kingston. Strengthened by the addition of these, the 
British fleet, under the command of Sir James Yeo, early in 
May, sailed for Oswego in order to destroy a large quantity of 
naval stores there collected. A military force of a thousand 
men, under General Drummond, accompanied the expedition. 
An assaulting party of three hundred and forty soldiers and 
sailors, in the face of a heavy fire of grape, stormed the strong 
and well-defended fort. In half an hour it was in their hands. 
The fort and barracks were destroyed, and some shipping, and 
an immense amount of stores were taken. 

Sir James Yeo now blockaded Chauncey's fleet in Sackett's 
Harbour. On the morning of the last day of May a flotilla of 
sixteen barges, laden with naval stores, was discovered seeking 
refuge amid the windings of Sandy Creek. A boat-party from 
the fleet, attempting pursuit, became entangled in the narrow 
creek, and was attacked by a strong force of the enemy, 
including two hundred Indians. After a desperate resistance, 
in which eighteen were killed and fifty wounded, the British 
force was overpowered, and a hundred and forty made pris- 
oners. These were with difficulty saved from massacre by 
the enraged Iroquois, by the vigorous interposition of their 
generous captors. 

The course of political events in Europe intimately affected 
the conflict in America. Napoleon was now a prisoner in Elba, 
and England was enabled to throw greater vigour into her 
transatlantic war. In the month of June, several regiments of 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1814. §31 

the veteran troops of Wellington landed at Quebec, and strong 
re-enforcements were rapidly despatched westward. 

The most sanguinary events of the campaign occurred on the 
Niagara frontier. On the 3d of July, Brigadier-Generals Scott 
and Eipley, with a force of four thousand men, crossed the 
Niagara Eiver at Buffalo. Fort Erie was garrisoned by only 
a hundred and seventy men, and the commandant, considering 
that it would be a needless effusion of blood to oppose an army 
with his scanty forces, surrendered at discretion. The next day. 
General Brown, the American Commander-in-Chief, advanced 
down the river to Chippewa. Here he was met by Major- 
General Kiall, whose scanty force was strengthened by the 
opportune arrival of six hundred of the 3d Buffs from Toronto, 
making his entire strength fifteen hundred regulars, six hundred 
militia, and three hundred Indians. The enffagrement that 
ensued was one of extreme severity, a greater number of com- 
batants being brought under fire than in any previous action of 
the war. Instead of prudently remaining on the defensive, 
Hiall, about four o'clock on the afternoon of the fifth, boldly 
attacked the enemy, who had taken up a good position, partly 
covered by some buildings and orchards, and were well sup- 
ported by artillery. The battle was fierce and bloody, but the 
Americans were well-officered, and their steadiness in action 
gave evidence of improved drill. After an obstinate engage- 
ment and the exhibition of unavailing valour, the British were 
forced to retreat, with the heavy loss of a hundred and fifty 
killed and three hundred and twenty wounded, among whom 
was Lieutenant-Colonel the Marquis of Tweedall. The loss of 
the Americans was seventy killed and two hundred and fifty 
wounded. Eiall retired in good order, without losing a man or 
gun, though pursued by the cavalry of the enemy. Having 
thrown re-enforcements into the forts at Niagara, on both sides 
of the river, fearing lest his communication with the west should 
be cut off by the Americans, Eiall retreated to Twenty Mile 
Creek. General Brown advanced to Queenston Heights, rav- 
aged the country, burned the village of St. David's, and made 
a reconnoissance toward Niagara. Being disappointed in the 



332 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

promised co-operation of Chauncey's fleet in an attack on the 
forts at the mouth of the river, he returned to Chipj)ewa, fol- 
lowed again by Eiall as far as Lundy's Lane. 

In the meanwhile, General Drummond, hearing at Kingston 
of the invasion, hastened with what troops he could collect to 
strengthen the British force on the frontier. Eeachingf Niag-ara 
on the 25th of July, he advanced with eight hundred men to 
support Eiall. At the same time, he pushed forward a column 
from Fort Niagara to Lewiston, to disperse a body of the enemy 
collected at that place. General Brown now advanced in force 
from Chippewa against the British position at Lundy's Lane. 
Eiall was compelled to fall back before the immensely superior 
American force, and the head of his column was already on 
the way to Queenston. General Drummond coming up with 
his re-enforcements about five o'clock, countermanded the move- 
ment of retreat, and immediately formed the order of battle. 
He occupied the gently swelling acclivity of Lundy's Lane, 
placing his guns in the centre, on its crest. His entire force 
was sixteen hundred men, that of the enemy was five thousand. 
The attack began at six o'clock in the evening, Drummond's 
troops having that hot July day marched from Niagara. The 
American infantry made desperate efforts in successive charges 
to capture the British battery ; but the gunners stuck to their 
pieces, and swept, with a deadly fire, the advancing lines of the 
enemy, till some of them were bayoneted at their post. The 
carnage on both sides was terrible. 

At length the long summer twilight closed, and the pitying 
night drew her veil over the horrors of the scene. Still, amid 
the darkness, the stubborn contest raged. The American and 
British guns were almost muzzle to muzzle. Some of each 
were captured and re-captured in fierce hand-to-hand fights, the 
gunners being bayoneted while serving their pieces. About 
nine o'clock, a lull occurred. The moon rose upon the tragic 
scene, lighting up the ghastly staring faces of the dead and 
the writhing forms of the dying ; the groans of the wounded 
mingling awfully with the deep eternal roar of the neighbouring 
cataract. 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1814. 333 

The retreating van of Eiall's army now returned, with a body 
of militia, twelve hundred in all. The Americans also brought 
up fresh reserves, and the combat was renewed with increased 
fury. Thin lines of fire marked the position of the infantry, 
while from the hot lips of the cannon flashed red volleys of 
flame, revealing in brief gleams the disordered ranks struggling 
in the gloom. By midnight, after six hours of mortal conflict, 
seventeen hundred men lay dead or wounded on the field, when 
the Americans abandoned the hopeless contest, their loss being 
nine hundred and thirty, besides three hundred taken prisoners. 
The British loss was seven hundred and seventy. To-day the 
peaceful wheat-fields wave upon the sunny slopes fertilized by 
the bodies of so many brave men, and the ploughshare upturns 
rusted bullets, regimental buttons, and other relics of this most 
sanguinary battle of the war. 

Throwing their heavy baggage and tents into the rushing 
rapids of the Niagara, and breaking down the bridges behind 
them, the fugitives retreated to Fort Erie, where they formed 
an entrenched camp. The victorious British columns closely 
followed, and for three weeks the camp and fort occupied by 
the American army were closely besieged by a force only two- 
thirds as numerous. Two American armed vessels, which sup- 
ported the fort on the lake side, were very cleverly captured in 
a night attack by Captain Dobbs, of the Royal Navy, by means 
of boats conveyed by sheer force of human muscles twenty miles 
across the country in the rear of the American lines, from 
the Niagara to Lake Erie. 

On the 13th of August, after a vigorous bombardment, a 
night attack, in three columns, was made upon the fort. Two 
of the columns had already effected an entrance into the works, 
and had turned the guns upon the besieged garrison, when the 
explosion of a magazine blew into the air a storming party, and 
caused an unconquerable panic on the part of the assailants. 
The British were compelled to retire, having incurred a loss of 
one hundred and fifty-seven killed, three hundred wounded, and 
one hundred and eighty-six prisoners. The loss of the besieged 
was eighty-four. 



334 HISTORY OF CANADA, 

The Americans, strongly re-enforced, a month later made a 
vigorous sally from the fort, but were driven back with a loss 
on the part of both assailants and assailed of about four hun- 
dred men. Shortly after. General Izzard blew up the works 
and re-crossed the river to United States territory. 

In the West, Michilimackinac was re-enforced, and Prairie du 
Chien, a fort on the Mississippi, was captured by a body of six 
hundred and fifty Canadians and Indians, without the loss of a 
single man. An American attempt to recapture Michilimacki- 
nac, by a force of a thousand men, was a total failure, the only 
exploit of the expedition being the inglorious pillage and de- 
struction of the undefended trading-port of Ste. Marie. 

Meanwhile, Sir John Sherbrooke, the Governor of Nova 
Scotia, despatched several hostile expeditions from Halifax 
against the coast of Maine. Eastport, Castine, Bangor, 
Machias, and the whole region from the Penobscot to the St. 
Croix, surrendered to the British, and were held by them to 
the close of the war. 

The arrival, in August, of sixteen thousand of Wellington's 
peninsular troops, the heroes of so many Spanish victories, 
placed at the command of Sir George Prevost the means of 
vigorously undertaking offensive operations. A well-appointed 
force of eleven thousand men advanced from Canada to Lake 
Champlain. Captain Downie, with a fleet on which the ship- 
carpenters were still at work as he went into action, was to 
co-operate with the army in an attack on Plattsburg, which 
was defended by five well-armed vessels and by fifteen hundred 
regulars and as many militia, under General Macomb. The 
British fleet gallantly attacked the enemy, but after a des- 
perate battle, in which Captain Downie was slain, and nine of 
the ill-manned gunboats fled, it was compelled to surrender to 
a superior force. Prevost, notwithstanding that his strength 
was ten times greater than that of the enemy, had awaited the 
assistance of the fleet. As he tardily advanced his storming 
columns, the cheers from the fort announced its capture. 
Although on the verge of an easy victory, Prevost, fearing the 
fate of Burgoyne, and humanely averse to the shedding of 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1814. 335" 

blood, to the intense chagrin of his soldiers gave the signal to 
retreat. Many of his officers for very shame broke their 
swords, and vowed that they would never serve again. "While 
an able civil governor, Prevost was an incompetent military 
commander. He was summoned home by the Horse Guards to 
stand a court-martial, but he died the following year, before the 
court sat. 

The launch at Kingston of the "St. Lawrence," an "oak 
leviathan " of a hundred guns, gave the British complete naval 
supremacy of Lake Ontario, and enabled them strongly to 
re-enforce General Drummond with troops and stores. 

Along the Atlantic seaboard the British, maintained a harass- 
ing blockade. The close of the Continental war enabled Great 
Britain to throw more vigour into the conflict with the United 
States. Her giant navy was, therefore, free from service in 
European waters, and Admiral Cockburn, with a fleet of fifty 
vessels, about the middle of August, arrived in Chesapeake 
Bay with troops destined for the attack on the American capi- 
tal. Tangier Island was seized and fortified, and fifteen hun- 
dred negroes of the neighbouring plantations were armed and 
drilled for military service. They proved useful, but very 
costly allies, as, at the conclusion of the war, the Emperor of 
Eussia, who was the referee in the matter, awarded their 
owners an indemnity of a million and a quarter of dollars, or 
over eight hundred dollars each for raw recruits for a six weeks' 
campaign. 

There are two rivers by which "Washington may be 
approached — the Potomac, on which it is situated, and the 
Patuxent, which flows in its rear. The British commander 
chose the latter, both on account of the facility of access, and 
for the purpose of destroying the powerful fleet of gunboats 
which had taken refuge in its creeks. This object was success- 
fully accomplished on the 20th of August — fifteen of the gun- 
boats being destroyed and one captured, together with fourteen 
merchant vessels. The army, under the command of General 
Ross, on the following day, disembarked at Benedict. It num- 
bered, including some marines, three thousand five hundred 



336 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

men, with two hundred sailors to drag the guns — two small 
three-pounders. 

For the defence of Washington, General "Winder had been 
assigned a force of sixteen thousand six hundred regulars, and 
a levy of ninety-three thousand militia had been ordered. Of 
the latter, not one appeared ; of the former, only about one-half 
mustered. The Americans had, however, twenty-six guns 
against two small pieces possessed by the British. General 
Winder took post at Bladensburg, a few miles from Washington. 
His batteries commanded the only bridge across the East 
Potomac. Eoss determined to storm the bridge in two columns. 
Not for a moment did the war-bronzed veterans of the Penin- 
sular War hesitate. Amid a storm of shot and shell, they 
dashed across the bridge, carried a fortified house, and charged 
on the batteries before the second column could come to their . 
aid. Ten guns were captured. The American army was 
utterly routed, and fled through and beyond the city it was to 
defend. The lack of cavalry and the intense heat of the day 
prevented pursuit by the British. The brilliant action was sad- 
dened to the victors by the loss of sixty-one gallant men slain 
and one hundred and eighty-five wounded. 

Towards evening the victorious army occupied the city. The 
destruction of the public buildings had been decreed, in 
retaliation for the pillage of Toronto and the wanton burning of 
Niagara. An ofier was made to the American authorities to 
accept a money payment by way of ransom, but it was refused. 
The next day, the torch was ruthlessly applied to the Capitol, 
with its valuable library, the President's House, Treasury, 
War Office, arsenal, dockyard, and the Long Bridge across 
the Potomac. The enemy had already destroyed a fine frigate, 
a twenty-gun sloop, twenty thousand stand of arms, and 
immense magazines of powder. Even if justifiable as a military 
retaliation, this act was unworthy of a great and generous 
nation. The town of Alexandria was saved from destruction 
only by the surrender of twenty-one vessels, sixteen hundred 
barrels of flour, and a thousand hogsheads of tobacco. 

The city of Baltimore redeemed itself more bravely. Against 



THE CAMPAIGN OF 1814. 



337 



that place General Ross now proceeded with his army and the 
fleet. A strong force of regulars and militia guarded the city. 
In attacking the enemy's outposts, General Ross was slain, and 
the command devolved on Colonel Brooke. Six thousand 
infantry, four hundred horse, and four guns, protected by a 
wooden palisade, disputed the passage of the British. With a 
shout and a cheer, Wellington's veterans attacked the obstruc- 
tions, and, in fifteen minutes, were masters of the field. The 
American army fled, leaving behind them six hundred killed or 
wounded, and three hundred prisoners, September 13. The 
next morning, the British were within a mile and a half of 
Baltimore, but they found fifteen thousand men, with a large 
train of artillery, in possession of the heights commanding the 
city. Colonel Brooke, not willing to incur the risk of attack- 
ing in daylight, with three thousand men, a fivefold number, 
resolved on attempting a surprise by night. He. learned, how- 
ever, that the enemy, by sinking twenty vessels in the river, 
had prevented all naval co-operation. The inevitable loss of life 
in an assault far counter-balancing any prospective advantage, 
Brooke wisely abandoned the design, and withdrew unmolested 
to his ships. 

The fleet and army which had been baffled at Baltimore sailed 
for New Orleans, with the object of capturing the chief cotton 
port of the United States, then a city of seventeen thousand 
inhabitants. The fleet arrived off the mouth of the Mississippi 
on the 8th of December. 
It was opposed by a flotilla 



of gunboats, but they were 
all soon captured and de- 
stroyed. Amid very great 
difficulties and hardships, 
resulting from the severity 
of the weather and the 
wretched condition of the 
roads, the army under 
General Packenham advanced to within six miles of New 
Orleans. Here General Jackson, the American commander^ 

43 










BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



338 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

had constructed a deep ditch and an entrenchment of earthworks, 
strengthened by sand-bags and cotton-bales, a thousand yards 
long, stretchmg from the Mississippi to an impassable swamp in 
the rear. Flanking batteries enfiladed the front. Behind these 
formidable works was posted an army of twelve thousand 
men. • 

Packenham resolved to send Colonel Thornton, with fourteen 
hundred men, across the river by night, to storm a battery which 
swept the front of the earthworks, and to menace the city of 
New Orleans. At the same time, the main attack was to be 
made on Jackson's lines, in two columns, under Generals Gibbs 
and Keane. Packenham had only six thousand men, including 
seamen and marines, " to attack twice the number, entrenched 
to the teeth in works bristling with bayonets and loaded with 
heavy artillery."* The rapid fall of the river retarded the 
crossing of the troops, and prevented a simultaneous attack on 
the right and left banks. 

Impatient at the delay, Packenham ordered the assault on 
Jan. 6, Jackson's lines ; the columns moved steadily forward, 
1815. 1^^^ ^jjQ dawn of day revealed their approach, and they 
were met by a concentrated and murderous fire from the 
batteries. Without flinching, they advanced to the ditch, when 
it was found that the fascines and scaling-ladders had been for- 
gotten. The head of the column, thus brought to a halt under 
the enemy's guns, was crushed back by the tremendous fire. 
Packenham now fell mortally wounded, and Generals Gibbs and 
Keane were shortly after struck down. 

The gallant Ninety-third Highlanders, however, undaunted by 
the carnage, rushed forward, and many of them fairly climbed 
their way into the works, mounting on each other's shoulders. 
But their rash valour brought upon them a concentrated fire of 
grape, by which the successful assailants were cut down to a 
man. General Lambert, on whom the command now devolved, 
finding it impossible to carry the works, and the slaughter being 
tremendous, drew off his troops. In this sanguinary repulse, 

* Alison's History of Europe, Cliap. LXXVI., American ed., vol. iv., p. 480. 



TEE CAMPAIGN OF 1814. 339 

the British lost two thousand men killed, wounded and prison- 
ers. The Americans claim that their loss Avas only eight killed 
and thirteen wounded. 

Meanwhile, Colonel Thornton, on the left bank of the river, 
had achieved a brilliant success. With only one-third of his 
command, or less than five hundred men, he had stormed a 
redoubt of twenty guns, defended by seventeen hundred men. 
The defeat of the main body, however, rendered the position 
untenable. Lambert successfully retreated to his ships, bring- 
ing off all his stores, ammunition, and field artillery. On the 
27th, the army re-embarked, and found a partial consolation 
for its defeat in the capture of Fort Boyer, a strong fortification 
at the mouth of the river. 

Peace had already been concluded at Ghent on the 24th of 
December, and was hailed with delight by the kindred peoples, 
wearied with mutual and unavailiuor slaug-hter. The calm 
verdict of history finds much ground of extenuation for the 
revolt of 1776 ; but for the American declaration of war in 
1812, little or none. A reckless Democratic majority wantonly 
invaded the country of an unoffending neighbouring people, to 
seduce them from their lawful allegiance and annex their 
territory. The long and costly conflict was alike bloody and 
barren. The Americans annexed not a single foot of territory. 
They gained not a single permanent advantage. Their seaboard, 
was insulted, their capitol destroyed. Their annual exports 
were reduced from £22,000,000 to £1,500,000. Three thou- 
sand of their vessels were captured. Two-thirds of their com- 
mercial class became insolvent. A vast war-tax was incurred, 
and the very existence of the Union imperilled by the menaced 
secession of the New England States. The *' right of search " 
and the rights of neutrals — the ostensible but not the real 
causes of the war — were not even mentioned in the treaty of 
peace. The adjustment of unsettled boundaries was referred 
to a commission, and an agreement was made for a combined 
effort for the suppression of the slave-trade. The United 
States, however, continued its internal slave -traffic, of a 



340 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

character even more obnoxious than that which it engaged to 
suppress. 

On Canada, too, the burden of the war fell heavily. Great 
Britain, exhausted by nearly twenty years of conflict, and still 
engaged in a strenuous struggle against the European despot, 
Napoleon, could only, till near the close of the war, furnish 
scanty miUtary aid. It was Canadian militia, with little help 
from British regulars, who won the brilliant victories of 
Chrysler's Farm and Chateauguay ; and throughout the entire 
conflict they were the principal defence of their country. In 
many a Canadian home, bitter tears were shed for son or sire 
left cold and stark upon the bloody plain at Queenston Heights, 
or Chippewa, or Lundy's Lane, or other hard-fought field of 
battle. 

The lavish expenditure of the Imperial authorities, for ship- 
building, transport service, and army supplies, and the free 
circulation of the paper money issued by the Canadian Govern- 
ment,* greatly stimulated the prosperity of the country. Its 
peaceful industries, agriculture, and the legitimate development 
of its natural resources, however, were very much interrupted, 
and vast amounts of public and private property were relent- 
lessly confiscated or destroyed by the enemy. 

* The paper cmrency of the United States was not redeemed till it had 
greatly depreciated in value, to the often ruinous loss of the holders. 



AFTER TH^ WAR— LOWER CANADA. 343. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

AFTER THE WAR — LOWER CANADA. 

The Close of the War — State of the Country — Progress in Manufactures — 
Immigration, 1816 — Internal Development — Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, 
Govei-nor-General, 1818 — Political Strife Renewed — The Duke of Richmond, 
Governor-General — The Assembly Refuses a Supply Bill — Tragical Death 
of the Governor-General, 1819 — Death of George III., and Accession of 
George IV., 1820 — Papineau's Speech — The Earl of Dalhousie, Governor- 
General — Conflict between Council and Assembly — Union of the Provinces 
Proposed, 1822 — Favoured by the English, Opposed by the French — 
Default of the Receiver-General, 1824 — He is Sustained by the Council — 
Imperial Commission on Canadian Affairs, 1828 — Its Report. 

AT the conclusion of the war, the fictitious prosperity 
created by the military expenditure rapidly declined, 
and its financial burdens, in the form of militia pensions* and 
gratuities to the widows and orphans of the slain, were severely 
felt. Grants of money were made by the legislature of Lower 
Canada for the construction of the Lachine and Rideau canals, 
and the accurate survey of the country was projected. 
Domestic manufactures,* such as those of leather, hats, paper, 
and to some extent, of iron, had been introduced ; and saw- 
mills and grist-mills multiplied on the inland streams. From 
the ashes of the forests, burned in the clearing of the land, a 
considerable quantity of potash and pearlash was produced. 
Colonization roads were greatly extended and improved. Ship- 
building was actively prosecuted, especially at Quebec. The 
Banks of Montreal, Quebec, and Kingston were established, and 
greatly facilitated the trade of the province. Immigration, in 
consequence of the depression of trade in the mother country, 
largely increased, and the new settlers were liberally aided by 
the Government with rations and implements. Steam naviga- 

* Each militia-man disabled through wounds received during the war, was 
awarded a pension of £ 6 per annum — a meagre allowance, but all that the 
exhausted resources of the country could afford. 



342 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

tion was extended on the St. Lawrence and the lakes. 
Additional steamboats were constructed at Montreal by the 
Hon. JohnMolson, " the father of Canadian steam navigation," 
and the " Molson," " Swiftsure," and "Accommodation" 
formed an efficient line for river travel. The transatlantic trade 
of Quebec also sprang into importance. 

Still the population was sparse — averaging in Upper Canada 
only seven per square mile. Schools, teachers, and medical 
men were few, and not always the most efficient. Lower 
Canada was divided into parishes, each with its resident cure; 
but in the upper province the people were dependent for 
religious instruction largely on the zeal of itinerant niission- 
aries, chiefly of the Methodist persuasion. 

Sir Gordon Drummond, the hero of Lundy's Lane, on the 
recall of Sir George Prevost, was appointed administrator of 
the government. He was born in Quebec, but had seen 
much service abroad, and had won distinction in Egypt before 
he gained his brightest laurels in the Canadian campaigns of 
1813-1814. He served the country with unremitting zeal and 
integrity of purpose till the spring of 1816. At his own 
1816. request, he was relieved of the onerous duties of 
government, and Sir John Cope Sherbrooke, Governor of Nova 
Scotia, an old officer of Wellington's* Indian and Peninsular 
campaigns, was appointed as his successor. The new Governor 
assumed the duties of office at a most critical period in the 
history of the country. Not only was there a good deal of 
political discontent, but the farmers of Lower Canada had 
sufiered the almost total loss of their wheat crop. General 
Sherbrooke, without waiting for the meeting of Parliament, 
assumed the responsibility of advancing, for the relief of the 
farmers, the sum of £14,246, to save them from destitution and 
to furnish the means of putting in a new crop. On its 
assembly, parliament not only indemnified him for the act, but 
voted an additional sum of £35,500 to relieve the prevailing 
distress. 

The conflict between the Legislative Assembly and the 
Council, which had been suspended during the war, now 



AFTER THE WAR — LOWER CANADA. 343 

revived. The impeachment of Chief Justices Sewell and Monk 
was dismissed by the Prince-Eegent, and was finally abandoned 
by the Assembly, out-wearied and out-manoeuvred by official 
influence, which largely controlled the action of both Assembly 
and Council. The slisrht restraint on the Executive which the 
Lower House possessed, was largely neutralized by the 
independent sources of revenue from duties levied by the 
Imperial authorities, which the colonial administration might 
expend without the consent of the Assembly. 

In 1818, Sir John Sherbrooke requested his recall on the 
ground of ill-health. The Duke of Richmond, a distinguished 
noble, who, as Lord Lieutenant, had administered public affairs 
in Ireland with eminent success, was appointed Governor- 
General. The breach between the Council and the Legislative 
Assembly grew wider and wider. Four-fifths of the latter 
were French, whereas four-fifths of the office-holders appointed 
by the Council were English. When civil government was first 
introduced into the country, after the conquest, its cost was 
defrayed in part by duties and taxes levied by the Imperial 
parliament. But after the Constitutional Act of 1791, the 
Assembly strenuously objected to this mode of taxation, over 
which it had no control. It therefore offered to defray the 
entire civil list, in order that it might also control the 
expenditure. The Council, however, regarded this as an 
infringement on the royal prerogative. Notwithstanding this 
ground of irritation, the civil list for the year 1819 was found 
to amount to £81,432, being an increase of £15,000 on that of 
the previous year. The most objectionable feature of this 
increase was a permanent charge of £8,000 per annum, for a 
pension-list, to be disposed of by the Government at pleasure. 
The Assembly therefore asserted its constitutional right to cut 
do"ftTi the several items of expenditure, chiefly salaries, to the 
amount, in all, of about £20,000. The Council, however, 
refused to pass the amended supply bill, and thus a dead-lock 
ensued. The conflict between the Executive and the Assem- 
bly was, however, interrupted by a tragical circumstance. 
During the summer. His Excellency the Governor-General, 



344 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



designed making an extensive journey through the two Canadas. 
He had proceeded as far as the village of Eichmond, named 
after himself, on the Ottawa. Here he was bitten by a tame 
fox, which unfortunately proved rabid. He shortly after died, 
amid the pangs of hydrophobia, August 27, 1819. The 
administration of public aifairs devolved upon his son-in-law. 
Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper 
Canada. * 

The general election of 1820 resulted unfavourably to the 
Government. The Assembly refused to do business on the 
ground that the House was incomplete, as the member for 
Gasp6 had not been elected. On the 29th of January, in the 
sixtieth year of his eventful reign and in the eighty-second 
year of his age, infirm, blind, beclouded in intellect, but 
beloved by his subjects, King George HI. died. In accord- 
ance with a not very rational usage, all the provincial Assem- 
blies were dissolved. Thus the collision of authority between 
the two branches of the legislature in Lower Canada was for a 
time postponed, and amid the ringing of joy-bells and firing of 
cannon, George IV. was proclaimed king. In a public address 

of loyal congratulation, M. Papi- 
neau, the Speaker of the Assem- 
bly, contrasted the happy condition 
of the French under English rule 
with their misery under the old 
regime. After denouncing the ar- 
bitrary and oppressive government 
of the French crown officials, he 
proceeded to describe in glowing 
language the beneficent results of 
the conquest. "From that day," 
he said, "the reign of law suc- 
ceeded to that of violence ; from 
that day, the treasures, the navy, and the army of Great 

* Notwithstanding the political strife, the population and prosperity of the 
country continued rapidly to increase. The number of immigrants arriving at 
Quebec this year, chiefly from Ireland, was 12;434. 




HON. LOUIS J. PAPINEAU. 



AFTER THE WAR— LOWER CANADA. 345 

Britain, are mustered to afford us an invincible protection 
against external danger ; from that day, the better part of her 
laws became ours, while our religion, property, and the laws 
by which they were governed, remain unaltered ; soon after, 
are granted to us the privileges of its free constitution, — an 
infallible pledge of our internal prosperity. Now, religious 
toleration ; the protection of innocence ; security against 
arbitrary imprisonment, by the privileges attached to the writ 
of Habeas Corpus ; loyal and equal security afforded to all, in 
their person, honour and property ; the right to obey no other 
laws than those of our own making and choice, expressed 
through our representatives ; all these advantages have become 
our birthright, and shall, I hope, be the lasting inheritance of 
our posterity. To secure them, let us only act as British sub- 
« jects and freemen." As we shall hereafter see, M. Papineau 
lived to recant the just and generous sentiments here expressed. 

The Earl of Dalhousie, a veteran soldier of distinguished 
experience, became the new Governor-General. With singu- 
larly high notions of vice-regal prerogative, he demanded a 
vote of supply for the period of the King's life. The Assem- 
bly resisted the demand. The Governor, by the advice of the 
Council, drew on the moneys in the hands of the Receiver- 
General. The Assembly denounced the act as unconstitutional. 
The breach between the two branches of the legislature errew 
wider. The Upper House consisted chiefly of Government 
dependents and English-speaking members, and favoured the 
monopoly of power exercised by the Executive. The Lower 
House was largely French, and was naturally jealous of the 
dominant party, and of the distribution of patronage and 
positions of emolument. The growing English-speaking popu- 
lation, dissatisfied with the feudal land tenure and inconvenient 
administration of justice in accordance with the French code, 
urged the union of the two Canadas, and the suppression of 
the French laws in the courts, and the French tenure of land. 

The financial relations of Upper and Lower Canada also 
required re-adjustment. The customs duties were chiefly col- 
lected at the great ports of entry on the St. Lawrence. By an 

44 



346 • BISTORT OF CANADA. 

arrangement "which expired by effluxion of time in 1819, one- 
fifth of these duties was refunded to Upper Canada, as the 
proportion of revenue from that source. As its population, 
however, increased much faster than that of Lower Canada, 
and, consequently, its consumption of dutiable goods, it 
claimed a larger proportion of the customs revenue, besides an 
arrearage of £30,000. The upper province, therefore, invoked 
the aid of the Imperial parliament for the adjustment of these 
diiferences. The mutual relations of the provinces were the 
subject of prolonged discussion, which resulted in the passage 
of the Canada Trade Act, providing for the distribution of 
revenue arising from duties more equitably to the increased 
population of the upper province. Provision was also made 
for the commutation of the seigneurial tenure into ' ' free and 
common soccage . " The legislative union of the two Canadas had 
also been provided for in the bill, but that clause was reserved 
till the state of feeling in the provinces relative thereto should 
be ascertained. That feeling in the lower province was soon 
very unmistakably expressed. The French, almost to a man, 
resented the union scheme as a denationalizing policy, and a 
violation of their guaranteed rights and privileges. The 
Assembly strongly protested against it, and anti-union peti- 
tions, signed by sixty thousand persons, were sent to the 
Imperial parliament. The general ignorance of the French 
population, however, is shown by the fact that nine-tenths of 
the petitioners were unable to write their names, and were, 
therefore, compelled to sign by the mark of a cross. The 
upper province, and the English in Lower Canada, were 
strongly in favour of the union ; but its consummation was not 
to take place till after nearly a score of stormy years. 

A just grievance intensified the resentment of the Legisla- 
tive Assembly of Lower Canada against the Executive Council. 
Sir John Caldwell, Receiver-General of the province, was 
found a defaulter to the amount of £96,000 of public moneys, 
and was yet retained as a member of the Council. That official 
ofiered to surrender private property to the estimated value 
of one-third of his indebtedness. As, however, he had been 



AFTER THE WAR — LOWER CANADA. 



347 



appointed and sustained in office by the Imperial authorities, 
the Assembly declined to accept his offer. On the contrary, it 
passed an address to the crown, praying for the indemnification 
of the province for the loss sustained through a crown officer. 
The Court of King's Bench subsequently rendered a judgment 
for £106,797 against the defaulter. A part only of this large 
indebtedness was recovered by the sale of his large landed 
property in Canada. 

The breach between the Assembly and Council became yearly 
wider and wider. The Lower House re-asserted its right to 
the control of the crown revenue, as a condition of passing a 
supply bill. During the visit of the Governor-General to Eng- 
land in 1825, Lieutenant-Governor Sir Francis Burton dis- 
charged the duties of his office.* He conceded the demand of 
the Assembly for the control of the crown revenue, and thus 
appeased the rising dissatisfaction of the popular branch of the 
legislature. On his return from England and resumption of the 
government. Lord Dalhousie completely frustrated the con- 
ciliatory policy of the Lieutenant-Governor, by demanding a 
permanent civil list. This was refused by the exasperated 
Assembly; when the Governor, with reproaches for its con- 
tumacy, dissolved the House, March 7, 1827. 

The indignation of the French-speaking portion of the com- 
munity at what was considered a subversion of the constitution 
was intense. Tumultuous meetings were held, and petitions, 
signed by eighty-seven thousand persons, invoked the inter- 
vention of the Home Government for the redress of their 
political grievances. Ten thousand of the British population 
petitioned for the union of the Canadas as the best or only 
solution of the legislative difficulty. The principal French 
agitator was M. Papineau, who had been Speaker of the late 
Assembly. He had already thrown away his professions of 
intense loyalty, and his invectives against the King's represent- 

* During this year, Sir Francis Burton laid, amid imposing ceremonies, the 
corner-stone of the Parish Church of Notre Dame, at Montreal, the largest 
church, with the exception of the Cathedral of the City of Mexico, on the 
continent. 



348 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

ative were exceedingly audacious and severe, verging, indeed, 
on the seditious. When the new parliament met, however, 
this popular tribune was elected by the Assembly, almost 
unanimously, as its Speaker. The Governor declined to recog- 
nize their election, and, on their persistence in their choice, 
prorogued the House. 

A commission was appointed by the Imperial Parliament to 
1828. investigate the civil condition of Canada. It reported 
in favour of liberal concessions and reforms. Its principal 
recommendations were the following : That the crown duties 
should be placed under the control of the Assembly, which 
should make permanent provision for the civil expenses of 
government; that the Executive and Legislative Councils, in 
both provinces, should be rendered more independent of crown 
influence by the introduction of gentlemen without official 
position, and in Lower Canada, without invidious distinctions 
as to British or French nationality, or Protestant or Catholic 
religion ; that a board of audit examine the public accounts ; 
that the electoral representation be equitably re-adjusted ; that 
the land tenure of British settlers be conformed to English law ; 
and that the crown land and clergy reserve administration be 
reformed so as to promote the settlement of the country. The 
report of the commissioners produced the most lively gratifica- 
tion in Lower Canada. A week before its arrival. Lord Dal- 
housie sailed for England, and was thus spared the mortification 
of witnessing a policy of conciliation substituted for one of 
coercion. He was subsequently appointed Commander-in-Chief 
of the British forces in India, and there won merited distinction 
by his vigorous military administration. 



AFTER THE WAR— UPPER CANADA. 349 



CHAPTEE XXVI. 

AFTER THE WAR — XJPPER CANADA. 

Francis Gore, Esq., Lieutenant-Governor, 1815 — The Clergy Reserve Grievance 
— The "Family Compact" — Its Status and Influence — Robert Gourlay 
Agitates against Crown Land Administration — Sir Peregrine Maitland, 
Lieutenant-Governor, 1818 — The "Canada Trade Act" Adjusts Fiscal Diffi- 
culties between the Provinces, 1822 — The Bidwell Election Case — The Rev. 
Dr. Strachan, a Member of the Legislative Council — Law Reforms — Re-ac- 
tion against the Family Compact — William Lyon Mackenzie — His Printing 
Office Wrecked — Sir John Colborne, Lieutenant-Governor, 1829 — Robert 
Baldwin becomes a Reform Leader — Mackenzie Agitates against Political 
Grievances — Is Persecuted into Popularity — Toronto Incorporated, 1834 — 
Mackenzie first Mayor — Sir Francis Bond Head, Lieutenant-Governor, 1836. 

IN Upper Canada, at the close of the war, General Drum- 
mond was succeeded in the administration of the govern- 
ment by Generals Murray and Eobinson, for a couple of 
months each, till the return of its former civilian Governor, 
Francis Gore, Esq., September 25, 1815. A free passage and 
liberal grants of land induced a large immigration from Great 
Britain ; but settlers from the United States, as a precaution 
against undue American influence, were refused land-grants or 
permission to become naturalized subjects. The legislature 
voted an annual grant of £2,500 for the civil list, and a liberal 
sum for the founding of a public-school system, the basis of 
that which we to-day possess. A good deal of dissatisfaction 
was felt at the delay in giving the promised grants of lands to 
the volunteers and militia, and at the exclusive claim of the 
Church of England to one-seventh of all the public lands of 
the province, set apart for the " support of a Protestant 
clergy." It was felt that these "reserves" constituted too 
large a proportion of the territory of the country ; that their 
reservation retarded its settlement ; and that their appropria- 
tion for the exclusive advantage of any one denomination was 
a practical injustice to all others, and introduced into the mixed 



350 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

population of Canada the social and religious inequalities and 
jealousies inseparable from the existence of an endowed and 
established state Church. 

We have seen how, before the war, the principal offices of 
trust, honour, and emolument, were largely engrossed by an 
aristocratic party, — a natural consequence of the superior 
social position of its members, and their greater educational 
fitness for the discharge of official duties. This party, which 
from tlje intimate social relations of its leading spirits became 
known as the •' Family Compact," was greatly strengthened 
during and after the war, and almost entirely controlled the 
executive administration of the province. It furnished the 
members of the Legislative and Executive Councils, and filled 
the offices which managed the finances and public lands. Its 
adherents formed the majority of the Legislative Assembly, 
and were often placemen whose votes maintained the monop- 
oly of power in the hands of their patrons. Any adverse 
criticism of the acts of the Government, or discussion of public 
grievances in the press or in public assemblies, was resented as 
a seditious interference with the lawful authorities, and was pun- 
ished by libel suits, imprisonment, social ostracism, and loss of 
any public office that the offender might hold. This " Com- 
pact " was extremely unpopular with a large proportion of the 

population, especially with many 
of the British and American im- 
migrants, and a prolonged struggle 
resulted in the overthrow of its 
\-m^ fc, jBa authority, and the establishment 

of the principles of responsible 
government. 
^^^-- ^^^ ^^^® ^^ ^^® leading members 

^\ \ "^^^-^ i^^^feaiv ^^ *^^^ ' ' Compact " was John 
X^^^^i' ;: ^^ /^W^ Beverly Robinson, afterward Chief 
!>/ ■ Justice of Upper Canada. Even 

SIR JOHN BEVERLY ROBINSON, thoso who differed from this gen- 
tleman politically, admired his eminent abilities and esteemed 
his incorruptible integrity. He came of U. E. Loyalist 




AFTER THE WAR— UPPER CANADA. 351 . 

stock, his father having served his King in the Revolutionary- 
war. He was born in Berthier, in Lower Canada, in 1791, 
and was one of the most distinguished pupils of the Rev. 
Dr. Strachan. He became acting Attorney-General of Upper 
Canada at the early age of twenty-one ; and, soon after, 
Solicitor-General of the province. He became Chief Justice 
in 1829 ; but, after the manner of those days, continued a 
member of the Legislative Council till that body was re- 
modelled under the Union Act of 1840. He was a strenuous 
upholder of the prerogatives of the crown against the en- 
croachments, as they were deemed, of popular liberty. He 
incurred a good deal of political odium on account of his 
prosecution, as Attorney- General, of the press for alleged 
libels ; but his personal integrity and patriotic intentions 
were never impugned. He commanded the confidence of 
three successive Governors, and received the approbation of 
his sovereign and the honour of a baronetcy. He long survived 
the political strifes of his early years, and, in his high place, 
lent lustre to the ermine and dignity to his office. 

One of the earliest and most vigorous opponents of the 
Family Compact was Robert Gourlay, a Scottish immigrant of 
an energetic and ambitious, yet eccentric character. After a 
somewhat prominent career as a political agitator in Great 
Britain, he came to Canada for the purpose of establishing 
himself as a land agent. In order to gain information on the 
state of the country, with a view to promote immigration on 
an extensive scale, he addressed a series of statistical questions 
to the principal inhabitants of each municipality. The answers 
received disclosed serious abuses in the management of the 
crown lands and clergy reserves. In the making of land grants 
much favouritism had prevailed. Extensive tracts had been 
alienated from the crown without any imposition of settlement 
duties or taxation. Much of the land was, therefore, held by 
speculators, and allowed to remain in a wild state, that its value 
might be enhanced by the cultivation of the settled districts. 
In order to prevent this evil, whereby the progress of the coun- 
try was retarded, royal instructions were issued forbidding the 



352 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

granting of more than twelve hundred acres to any one person. 
But this instruction was often adroitly evaded. A greedy land 
agent would apply in the names of a number of associates for 
grants of twelve hundred acres for each. This application was 
often only a subterfuge, and the combined grant, sometimes 
amounting to fifty thousand acres, was secured for the personal 
advantage of the *' agent." 

Mr. Gourlay, in 1818, called a convention at York (Toronto), 
of delegates from the townships for the purpose of adopting a 
petition to the Imperial parliament for the redress of these 
grievances. In formulating the complaints of the petitioners, 
Mr. Gourlay was exceedingly severe in his denunciation of offi- 
cial mismanagement and favouritism. A single extract will indi- 
cate his vehemence of style. "Corruption," he said, "has 
reached such a height in this province, that it is thought no other 
part of the British Empire witnesses the like. It matters not 
what characters fill situations of public trust ; all sink beneath 
the dignity of men, and have become vitiated and weak." This 
was a mode of speech to which the Family Compact had 
not been accustomed. For expressions in his petition and ad- 
dresses deemed libellous, Gourlay was, therefore, twice put on 
his trial, and as often acquitted. He afterwards suffered a long 
imprisonment at Niagara, on charge of sedition, and was 
expelled from the country through the strained interpretation 
of the Alien Act of 1804, which was designed to check the 
political influence of immigrants from the United States. 

The Legislative Assembly fell in with the humour of the 
oligarchic Executive. "We remember that this favoured 
land," was the dutiful reply to the Governor's speech, " was 
assigned to our fathers as a retreat for suffering loyalty, and 
not as a sanctuary for sedition." The House, therefore, ex- 
pressed its "just indignation" at the "designs of a factious 
individual," — so with a good deal of truth they designated 
Gourlay, — by passing an Act prohibiting the holding of 
political conventions. These gatherings were deemed doubly 
obnoxious as being a democratic importation from the United 



AFTER THE WAR— UPPER CANADA. 353 

States, and as an infringement on the privileges of the legisla- 
ture. 

In the meanwhile, Mr. Gore had been succeeded as Governor 
by Sir Peregrine Maitland, the son-in-law of the Duke of Rich- 
mond, the Governor-General. The brusque military bearing 
of Sir Peregrine, together with his high notions of official pre- 
rogative, his alliance with the Family Compact, and his arbi- 
trary treatment of Gourlay, alienated from him the popular 
sympathy, and intensified the feeling of dissatisfaction towards 
the party in power. The increased independence of the Legis- 
lative Assembly was indicated by the repeal of the Act against 
political conventions passed two years before, * and the adop- 
tion, to the intense chagrin of the land speculators, of Gour- 
lay's suggestion for the taxation of wild lands, f The popula- 
tion of the province having now increased to one hundred and 
twenty thousand, the electoral representation in the Assembly 
was also nearly doubled. 

The union of the Canadas, proposed in the Imperial parlia- 
ment as an adjustment of their conflicting claims, was generally 
favoured in the upper province ; but, as we have seen, in con- 
sequence of the intense opposition of the French population of 
Lower Canada, the proposition for the time was withdrawn. 
A standing grievance of the western province was the collec- 
tion at Montreal and Quebec of the revenue duties imposed by 
Lower Canada on all imports, — of which, at first, only one- 
eighth, and, afterwards, one-fifth, were refunded to Upper 
Canada. As the latter grew in wealth and population, and its 
imports increased in value, this was felt to be a growing injus- 
tice. The Canada Trade Act of 1822 more equitably distrib- 
uted these duties and removed this grievance. It restored to 

* It had been passed with only one dissentient vote, and now there was but 
one Tote against its repeal, — that of Mr. Kobinson, afterward Chief Justice of 
Upper Canada. 

t Mr. Gourlay returned to England, and, in 1822, published a work on 
Canada, largely statistical, in three large volumes, and twice afterwards visited 
the country. He was subject to seasons of mental aberration, and was once 
imprisoned for an assault on Lord Brougham in the lobby of the British House 
of Commons. 

45 



354 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

the upper province £30,000 of arrears due by Lower Canada. 
A good ■ deal of smuggling along the American frontier, how- 
ever, largely defrauded the revenue, and corrupted the moral 
sense of the community. 

Several steamboats now sailed on the lakes and on the St. 
Lawrence, but the passage of the rapids was made in large, flat 
"Durham boats," which were generally sold at Montreal or 
Quebec, to save the expense of time and toil in returning 
against the strong current. The Lachine and Eideau Canals 
were now approaching completion, and the Welland Canal, a 
work of great national utility, connecting Lake Erie and Lake 
Ontario, was projected by the Hon. William Hamilton Merritt, 
of the Niagara District. Banks were also established in the 
principal towns, but the benefit to be derived from them was 
greatly lessened by the large number of American counterfeit 
bills which were in circulation. Agricultural societies greatly 
improved the mode of tillage, which was still very imperfect. 
Farm produce brought scarcely remunerative prices, on account 
of the difficulty of transport of the surplus to the seaboard ; 
and the growth of hemp and tobacco received a good deal of 
attention. Agricultural implements were still of very rude 
construction, and labour-saving machines, such as reapers or 
mowers, were unknown. Many new townships were surveyed 
and thrown open to settlement. Our public-school system had 
already been established, 1816, and was aided in its infancy by 
legislative grants. 

A somewhat remarkable election question came into prom- 
inent notice in the parliamentary session of 1821. Mr. Barna- 
bas Bidwell was returned for the representation of Lennox and 
Addington. His previous history was somewhat chequered. 
He had been a resident of Massachusetts, and, after the war of 
independence, took the oath of allegiance to the United States, 
became a member of Congress, and Attorney-General of the 
State. He was subsequently, — in the year 1810, — accused 
of malversation of public funds, and came to Canada, to escape 
trial, as it was alleged. He became a fast friend of Eobert 
Gourlay, with whose " reform principles," as opposition to the 



AFTER THE WAR— UPPER CAXADA. 355 

Executive had begun to be called, he had a strong sympathy. 
His election was protested against on the ground that he was 
the subject of a foreign State and a fugitive from justice. He 
was, therefore, expelled from the House, and his son, Marshall 
Spring Bidwell, who offered himself as a candidate in his 
stead, was defeated by a large majority. He was, however, 
subsequently elected, and played a prominent part in colonial 
politics. 

About this time, the Eev. Dr. Strachan, a man destined to 
exert a powerful influence on the history of Canada, was 
appointed by royal warrant a member of the Legislative 
Council, and soon emerged into political prominence. The 
story of his life is a striking illustration of what may be 
accomplished by energy of character and persistence of pur- 
pose. He was born of humble parentage in the ancient 
borough of Aberdeen, in the year 1778, and received a clas- 
sical training at King's College and at the University of St. 
Andrews. At the latter, he .prosecuted theological studies 
with a view to entering the ministry of the Kirk of Scotland. 
Having a mother and sisters dependent on his support, he took 
charge of a village school on a stipend of £30 per year. 
Among his pupils were the afterwards celebrated Sir David 
Wilkie, and the unfortunate Commodore Eobert Barclay. 
Among the many schemes of colonial advancement of General 
Simcoe, first Governor of Upper Canada, was one for the estab- 
lishment of a college or university, at York, and of grammar 
schools throughout the country. The charge of organizing this 
college was offered successively to Thomas, afterwards Dr., 
Chalmers, and to the humble schoolmaster, John Strachan. It 
was accepted by the latter, and, after a four months' voyage, on 
the last day of the century, he reached Kingston. To his in- 
tense disappointment. Governor Simcoe had left the country, 
and his comprehensive educational scheme was abandoned. The 
indomitable Scotch schoolmaster opened a school in Kingston. 
Under the advice of the Eev. Dr. Stuart, archdeacon of 
Upper Canada, he studied divinity with a view to taking holy 
orders in the Church of England. In due course, he was 



356 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

ordained deacon and priest, and appointed to the mission of 
Cornwall. Here he established the grammar-school, and, 
among his distinguished pupils, were the late Sir John Beverly 
Eobinson, Sir J. B. Macaulay, and the Hon. Jonas Jones. He 
became, in rapid succession, rector of York, chaplain to the 
Legislative Assembly, member of the Legislative Council, and 
first Anglican Bishop of Upper Canada. When raised to the 
episcopal dignity, his missionary zeal and energy largely con- 
tributed to the extension and prosperity of the Church of 
England in his adopted country. On its behalf he also 
exerted his powerful political influence. * 

Indications were not wanting that a popular re-actiou was 
taking place against the party in power. The feeling against 
the monopoly by the Anglican Church of the clergy reserves, 
1883. was shown by an appeal from the Assembly to the 
British parliament for the admission of the Kirk of Scotland 
to a share of this liberal endowment. The levying of eccle- 
siastical tithes was prohibited. A bill authorizing Methodist 
ministers to perform the marriage ceremony was passed by the 
Assembly, but rejected by the Upper House. The general 
election of 1824 resulted in favour of the Reform party, as it 
now began to be called. Among the members elected were 
Dr. Eolph, Peter Perry, and Marshall Bidwell, prominent 
champions of popular rights, to prevent whose return the 
1825. Family Compact had made every effort. The struggle 
of parties over the Speakership of the Assembly resulted in 
the election of John Wilson of Wentworth, a plain, honest 
farmer, by a Eeform majority of two. The Family Compact, 
for the first time, was in a minority in the House, f 

The chief thorn in the side of the hitherto dominant party, 
however, was a new "grievance monger" of the Gourlay 
stamp. W^illiam Lyon Mackenzie, born 1795, was the son of 
humble Perthshire parents. His father died before he was a 

* He died NovemlDer 2, 1867, aged eighty-nine. 

t This year the parliament building at York was burned, causing a loss to 
the province of £2,000. The library, however, which was a very considerable 
one, was saved. 



AFTER THE WAR— UPPER CANADA. 357 

month old. His widowed mother endeavoured, amid often 
pressing poverty, to give her son the best education in her 
power. He was a voracious, but indiscriminate reader, and 
developed indomitable energy of character. After a somewhat 
restless and erratic career in the old country, he emigrated, in 
his twenty-fifth year, to Canada. Having undergone a varied 
experience at storekeeping in York, Dundas, and Niagara, he 
found at last his true vocation as a journalist. His intense 
hatred of injustice, and his natural impetuosity of disposition, 
hurried him into intemperance of expression and action. His 
remarkable industry in ferreting out abuses — which were only 
too easily found — and his pungent style of editorial criticism, 
made the "Colonial Advocate," as his paper was called, par- 
ticularly obnoxious to the party in power. Having removed 
to York, during a temporary absence from home his isse. 
printing-office was sacked, his press wrecked, and his type 
scattered by some young men connected with the dominant 
party, which had taken offence at the biting criticism of his 
paper upon some of their public acts. He sued the aggressors 
for damages, and received the award of £625. The event was 
a fortunate one for him, as it gave a new lease of life to the 
"Advocate " which had been on the eve of suspension for lack 
of patronage. He also won favour as a champion of popular 
rights, and was shortly after returned as a Reform member of 
the Assembly for the county of York. 

The personal appearance of this remarkable man, who played 
such a conspicuous part in the history of his adopted country, 
is thus sketched by one who knew him well: " Of slender 
frame, and only five feet six inches in stature, his massive head, 
bald from early fever, and high and broad in the frontal region, 
looked far too large for the small body it surmounted. His eye, 
clear and piercing, his firm-set Scotch mouth, his chin long and 
broad, and the general contour of his features, made up a coun- 
tenance indicative of strong will and great resolution, while the 
ceaseless activity of his fingers, and the perpetual twitching of 
the lower part of his face, betrayed that restlessness and 



358 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

nervousness of disposition which so darkly clouded his exist- 
ence." 

Among the schemes proposed for the development of the 
waste lands of the province was the establishment of the 
Canada Land Company. It was incorporated by royal charter 
in 1826. Its headquarters were in London, and its capital was 
furnished by English money-kings. It proposed to buy up all 
the crown and clergy reserves. The objection being raised by 
the clergy corporation that the price offered for their reserves 
was too low, the Company obtained a free grant of a million 
acres in the Huron country in lieu thereof. It agreed to pay 
£350,000 sterling, in sixteen years, for two million three hun- 
dred thousand acres additional, and to construct colonization 
roads and other works of public utility. These provisions , how- 
ever, were only partially carried out, and much of the land, as 
well as the militia grants for service rendered during the war, 
fell into the hands of speculators, who held it for their private 
advantage. 

Sir John Colborne, a gentleman of somewhat stern military 
character, who had succeeded as Governor Sir Peregrine Mait- 
1829. land — transferred to Nova Scotia — met a new par- 
liament more outspoken in its opposition to the Executive 
Council than any that had preceded it. A significant fact was 
the election of Marshall Bid well, an ultra-liberal, to the Speaker's 
chair. Mr. Collins, the editor of the ** Canadian Freeman," 
had been fined and imprisoned on a libel suit urged by Attorney- 
General Robinson. The Assembly petitioned for his pardon, on 
account of his young and helpless family. The Governor de- 
clined to remit the penalty, and thus became so obnoxious to the 
popular party that he was burned in efB.gy at Hamilton. On 
petition of the Assembly, King George IV. not only released 
the prisoner, but refunded the fine. Such a wise exercise of 
clemency on the part of the Governpr would have conciliated 
public feeling, but it was unfortunately neglected. 

The " Compact" soon sustained a defeat in its stronghold in 
the election of Robert Baldwin over its candidate, Mr. Charles 
Small, for the representation of the town of York. Mr. 



AFTER THE WAR— UPPER CANADA. 359 

Baldwin, who was a native of thie town which he now rep- 
resented, during the entire course of his public life, com- 
manded the esteem of both political parties. His father, 
William Warren Baldwin, came to Canada in 1798, from the 
County Cork, Ireland. Although educated for a physician, he 
adopted the practice of law, in which profession he attained 
distinguished success. He represented for some years the 
county of Norfolk in the Legislative Assembly, and six months 
before his death, was called to the Council. His son, who 
adopted his father's profession, on the elevation to the Bench 
of Attorney-General Robinson, was elected as his successor in 
the Assembly. His personal integrity, his legal ability, his 
singular moderation, enabled him, as has been admirably said, 
*' to lead his country through a great constitutional crisis into 
an era of larger and more matured liberty." Not a breath of 
calumny stained his reputation. Although devoid of the art 
of winning popular applause, and a parliamentary leader in a 
time of intense political excitement, he yet conciliated the good- 
will even of his opponents. He inherits the gratitude of the 
country for labouring by constitutional methods to procure 
responsible government till success at length crowned his 
efforts. 

On the 30th of November in this year, 1829, the Welland 
Canal was opened for navigation, thus inaugurating a new era 
in the commerce of the country. In the same year was estab- 
lished the first religious newspaper of Upper Canada, the 
"Christian Guardian," the organ of the Wesleyan Methodist 
Church, under the editorship of the Eev. Egerton Eyerson. 

The casual and territorial revenue of the crown, as we have 
seen, made the Executive Council quite independent of the 
Legislative Assembly. A petition, signed by over three thou- 
sand of the inhabitants of Upper Canada, was this year pre- 
sented by Mr. Stanley, afterwards Lord Derby, to the Imperial 
parliament, praying for the limitation of power of the Council. 
It urged that the independence of the Bench should be guaran- 
teed, as in the mother country, and that " local and responsible 
administration," — that is, government based on a parliamentary 



360 , HISTORY OF CANADA. 

majority, — should be granted, as the panacea for the political 
troubles of the colony. 

The Legislative Assembly continued to assert its right of 
control over the revenues of the province, and did not hesitate, 
1830. although in vain, to ask for the dismissal of the Execu- 
tive Council. The growing breach between the two branches 
of the legislature was seen in the rejection by the Upper House 
of forty bills passed by the Assembly. The struggle for 
"responsible government" had begun. Mackenzie's per- 
j)etual grievance-motions were continually unearthing abuses 
that needed correction. Pension-lists, official salaries, the 
corrupt constitution of the House, were all attacked with sting- 
ing sarcasm. The inequalities of representation were glaring. 
One member had only thirteen constituents. The members for 
York and Lanark represented more persons than the members 
for fifteen other constituencies. The House was filled with 
placemen, — postmasters, sheriffs, registrars, revenue officers, 
and collectors. 

Through a popular re-action, the general election of 1830 
resulted in a majority of supporters of the Family Compact 
administration. This fact intensified the virulence of the con- 
flict which was to ensue. Outside of the House Mackenzie was 
as active as inside. He traversed the country, held public 
meetings, and circulated petitions to the throne, which were, 
signed by nearly twenty-five thousand persons , praying for the 
secularization of the clergy reserves, for law reform, for the 
exclusion of judges and the clergy from parliament, for the 
abolition of primogeniture, for the legislative control of public 
moneys, and for other reforms which have long since become 
the law of the land. A caustic article in the " Colonial Advo- 
cate" was deemed a breach of parliamentary privilege, and 
Mackenzie was expelled from the Assembly. 

Popular sympathy was largely enlisted in favour of the 
champion of popular rights, as he was by his friends regarded. 
On the day of his expulsion, nearly a thousand petitioners pro- 
ceeded in a body to the Government House, requesting the dis- 
solution of the parliament. Only a curt and formal acknowledg- 



AFTER THE WAR— UPPER CANADA. 361 

meut of the receipt of the petition was vouchsafed ; but 
troops were placed under arms to suppress with rigour the 
riot which was apprehended. The petitioners, however, con- 
tented themselves with cheering for Mackenzie, and hooting 
at the parliament. As a bid for popular favour the Assembly 
voted an address to the crown in favour of the sale of the 
clergy reserves, and the application of the proceeds to the 
purpose of education. 

Mackenzie, however, was returned by a triumphant majority,* 
and he was presented with a gold medal valued at sixty isaa.t 
pounds. He was accompanied by an immense crowd to the 
parliament buildings, many of whom forced their way into the 
Assembly chamber, only to hear a motion of expulsion of the 
popular idol proposed as he stood to be sworn in at the bar of the 
House. The motion was defeated, but in three days an obnox- 
ious article in the « ' Advocate " gave fresh ground for repeating 
the act of expulsion. Elevated by this persecution, as it was 
deemed, into a popular hero, he was re-elected and sent to 
England to support the petitions to the King for the redress of 
grievances. He remained in England eighteen months, obtained 
a patient hearing at the Colonial Office, and received the co- 
operation of distinguished statesmen, especially of the late Mr. 
Joseph Hume, in urging on the Imperial Government the liber- 
alizing of the Canadian administration. On his return he was 
again three times expelled from the Assembly, and as often 
returned by large majorities. He was also, as a mark of pub- 
lic favour, elected first mayor of Toronto, now incor- iss*. 
porated as a city. 

The Executive Council lost influence with each triumph of 
its opponents, and by the general election of 1835 the Ee- 

* In an hour and a lialf lie received a hundred and nineteen votes, when his 
opponent, Mr. Street, who had only received one, retired from the hopeless 
contest. 

t In this year, Canada received a sad visitation of that Asiatic plague, the 
cholera. The immigration of the season was large, and the crowded and ill- 
ventilated condition of the emigrant vessels intensified the virulence of the 
disease. It spread from Quebec and Montreal throughout the upper province, 
and not till the cool days of autumn arrived was the deadly scourge removed. 
46 



362 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

form party obtained a majority in the Assembly. Appar- 
ently apprehending the distribution of tKe clergy reserves 
among the various denominations, the Executive Council set 
apart for the maintenance of the Church of England fifty-seven 
rectories, with attached glebe lands. These were placed in 
possession of clergymen of that Church, with a view of debar- 
ring their alienation by future legislation. The Kirk of Scot- 
land had previously been admitted to share those lands. Sir 
1836. John Colborne, unable to control the rising tide of 
political agitation, requested his recall, and was succeeded by 
Sir Francis Bond Head. 



TEE BEBELLION— LOWER CANADA. 363 



CHAPTER XXVn. 

THE REBELLION — LOWER CANADA. 

Political Disaffection — Sir James Kempt, Governor-General, 1828 — Lord 
Aylmer, Governor-General, 1830 — Fatal Election Riot at Montreal — Large 
Immigration — Outbreak of Cholera — Papineau's " Ninety-Two Resolu- 
tions," 1834 — Lord Gosford, Governor-General, 1835 — Seditious Gather- 
ings — Accession of Queen Victoria, 1837 — Sir John Colbome Assumes 
Chief Military Command — Troops Concentrate at Montreal — Papineau 
Inflames Sedition — Collision at Montreal — The Rebels Rendezvous on 
the Richelieu — Repulse of Colonel Gore — Murder of Lieutenant Weir — 
Colonel Wetherall Routs Rebels at St. Charles, November 25 — Sir 
John Colbome Routs Rebels at St. Eustache and St. Benoit, December 14 
— Lord Durham, Governor-General and High Commissioner, 1838 — His 
Magnanimous Character — His Policy Condemned as Ultra Vires — His 
Cliagrin and Resignation — His Masterly Report — Second Outbreak of 
Rebellion — Insurgents Routed at Odelltown — Rebellion Suppressed in 
Lower Canada. 

IN Lower Canada, in the meanwhile, the breach between the 
popular Assembly and the Executive Council was continually 
becoming wider. The liberal concessions of the Home Govern- 
ment were met by increased and unreasonable demands^ The 
object sought was not, as in Upper Canada, the establishment 
of responsible government, but to effect the supremacy of the 
French race and its absolute control over the Executive. The 
Government refused to give up its casual and territorial 
revenue, derived from timber and mining dues, and the sale of 
crown lands, which had been guaranteed to it by the Quebec 
Act of 1774, or to render the Legislative Council elective, 
and thus make it the facile instrument of the French 
majority.* 

The conciliatory policy of Sir James Kempt, who succeeded 
Lord Dalhousie in 1828, equally with that of Lord Aylmer, 
who became Governor in 1830, failed to satisfy the aggressive • 

* Only eleven out of eighty-eight members of the Assembly in 1830, or one- 
eighth of the whole, were British. 



364 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



demands of the Assembly. Although the control of the 
revenue was ceded to it, it ungenerously refused to vote the 
supplies for the civil list. The salaries of the Judges and 
Government officials fell into arrears, and the Governor was 
precluded by his ' ' instructions " from drawing upon the 
Receiver-General, as Lord Dalhousie had done, to make up 
the deficiency. An election riot in Montreal, in which three 
men were killed by the fire of the military, intensified the 
national antipathy of the French to the British. During the 
summer of 1831, an immigration of fifty thousand souls, chiefly 
Irish, arrived at Quebec, and passed up the valley of the St. 
Lawrence, " like a disorganized army," said a contemporary 
journal, "leaving the inhabitants to provide for the sick and 
wounded and to bury the dead." The dreadful ravages of the 
cholera, which spread from Grosse Isle over the whole country, 




PALACE GATE, QUEBEC. 



carried death and dismay to almost all the frontier towns and 
The immigration of the "British foreigners," as 



villages. 



THE REBELLION— LOWER CAN^ADA. 355 

they were called, was denounced as an invasion of the 
territorial rights of the French population. Three years later, 
a still more fatal visitation of the cholera occurred. Durins: 
the administration of the Duke of Wellington as Prime 
Minister of England, the fortifications of Quebec were 
thoroughly re-constructed on their present magnificent scale, 
after designs approved by that veteran soldier. Palace Gate, 
shown in the engraving, modelled after one of the gates of 
Pompeii, is one of these re-constructions, erected in 1831. 

M. Papineau, ten years previously the eulogist of British 
power, now exhausted his rhetoric in inveighing against its 
tyranny. " La Canadien," newspaper, which had been isa*. 
suppressed under the administration of Sir James Craig, was 
revived. It added fuel to the flame, by denouncing the British 
as usurpers, foreigners, intruders. The British press, on the 
other hand, stigmatized the French-Canadians as ungrateful to 
the authority which had treated them so generously. Thus the 
antipathies of race were intensified. The Legislative Assembly 
formulated in the celebrated " Ninety-two Kesolutions," written 
chiefly by Papineau, every real or imaginary grievance under 
which the country laboured. Petitions founded on these reso- 
lutions were laid before the King and the Imperial parliament, 
and counter-petitions were presented by the British population. 
Lord Stanley, the Colonial Secretary, was ojDposed to the con- 
cessions demanded by the malcontents. An influential com- 
mittee, of which Lord Lytton, and the celebrated Irish Liberal, 
Daniel O'Connell, were leading members, gave a patient hearing 
to the complaints of both parties. Notwithstanding the covert 
threat of rebellion in the French-Canadian petitions, the Home 
Government continued its policy of conciliation. 

Lord Gosford was appointed to succeed Lord Aylmer in the 
ungrateful office of Governor, and with him were associated Sir 
Charles Grey and Sir George Gipps as a commission of isas. 
inquiry to investigate the alleged grievances of the Assembly. 
These liberal measures failed to meet the unreasonable wishes 
of the turbulent French majority. Papineau, the idol of the 
ignorant habiians, intoxicated with power, boldly avowed his 



366 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

republican principles. " The time has gone by," he said, 
' ' when Europe could give monarchs to America. The epoch is 
approaching when America will give republics to Europe." 
Visions of La JVation Canadienne, whose positions of dignity 
should be engrossed by himself and his countrymen, lured him 
on to open rebellion. The French were known to be secretly 
drilling, and loyal volunteer associations were formed among 
the British population for the defence of the Government. 

The spark was applied to these explosive elements by the 
action of the British Parliament on the report of the royal com- 
mission of inquiry. Wearied by the rejection of its policy of 
1837. conciliation, the Home Government now adopted one 
of a more vigorous character. This policy was indicated in the 
celebrated * ' Ten Resolutions " of Lord John Eussell. Not- 
withstanding the opposition of Lord Brougham, these were 
adopted by the House. By destroying the hopes of the radical 
leaders in both Upper and Lower Canada, they tended to 
precipitate the rebellion in either province. Instead of antici- 
pated concessions, they strengthened the authority of the 
colonial Executive. 

For five years the Assembly had voted no civil list. The 
British officials and judges were consequently reduced to 
extreme inconvenience. The Governor-General was empowered 
to take £142,000 out of the treasury to pay these arrears. The 
demand for an elective Council was refused. The indignation 
of the French population when these resolutions were made 
known was intense. They met in turbulent assemblies, with 
arms in their hands. Lord Gosford issued a proclamation for- 
bidding these seditious gatherings. It was torn down with 
contempt, and with shouts of *' Long live Papineau ! " "Down 
with despotism ! " The hdbitans were urged to use no material 
of British manufacture, and their leaders appeared clad in 
homespun. The accession, after an interval of a century and a 
quarter, of a female sovereign, awoke no feelings of loyalty in 
the rebel faction, and they plotted as vigorously against the 
throne and crown of Queen Victoria as they had against the 
citizen King, William IV. The Koman Catholic bishops and 



, THE REBELLION— LOWER CANADA. 367 

clergy now interposed their authority to prevent an outbreak. 
The rites of the Church "were refused to all who took part in 
the revolt. But even the threat of excommunication seemed to 
have little effect on the exasperated hahitans. Under the evil 
guidance of their infatuated leaders, they rushed headlong into 
rebellion. But although the influence of the Catholic clergy 
for a time seemed disregarded, they contributed effectively to 
the suppression of the revolt. 

Never was a people less fitted for the exercise of political 
power than the French hahitans. Mne-tenths of them were 
unable to read, and none of them had a spark of that love 
of constitutional liberty in which the English nation had so 
long been trained. With a blind partisanship, they followed 
the demagogues who had inflamed their national prejudices and 
passions. Apparently the liberal party in Lower Canada, they 
yet advocated re-actionary measures, and strove to revive the 
old French policy of resistance to popular education, immigra- 
tion, or any innovation of English customs, laws, language, or 
institutions. The British population, the real safeguard of 
constitutional liberty, although largely conservative of class 
privileges, were driven by the violence of the French info an 
apparent opposition to some of its vital princij)les. 

To meet the coming storm, Sir John Colborne, a prompt and 
energetic officer, was appointed to the military command of the 
provinces. The few troops in Upper and Lower Canada, only 
some three thousand in all, were chiefly concentrated at Mon- 
treal, the focus of disaffection. The military stores, during the 
long peace of twenty-two years, were well-nigh destroyed by 
damp and rust, or consumed by moths and worms. But 
Papineau, the leader of the rebellion, was an empty gasconader, 
void of statesmanship or military ability — "a braggart in the 
forum, a coward in the field." Dr. Wolfred Nelson, the second 
in authority, was of English descent, born in Montreal, and 
speaking French like a native. He was thoroughly identified 
in sympathy with the hahitans^ and under the influence of 
Papineau, but had more of the military spirit than his political 
leader. As the summer waned, the symptoms of revolt in- 



368 HISTORY OF CAN-ADA. 

creased. The French tri-colour and eagle appeared, and 
turbulent mobs of " Patriots," or of " Sons of Liberty," sang 
revolutionary songs. Loyal associations of ' ' Constitutionalists " 
were also formed. Volunteer companies of infantry and cavalry 
were armed and drilled for the defence of the Government. 
Offers of assistance from the militia ,of the upper province, and 
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, were also received. The 
first armed collision took place in the streets of Montreal, 
November 6, 1837. A large body of *' Sons of Liberty," 
excited by incendiary harangues, met a much smaller number of 
the "Doric Club," a loyal British association. A free fight 
with sticks and stones ensued. Pistol shots were also fired, 
windows broken, and, the loyalists rallying, the office of* the 
"Vindicator," an obnoxious radical paper, was wrecked. 
"Warrants were soon issued for the arrest of the leaders of the 
revolt. 

On the 16th of November, the first armed resistance to the 
authorities took place. Lieutenant Armatinger, with a force of 
eighteen volunteer cavalry, was returning from St. John to 
Montreal with two prisoners, whom they had apprehended for 
treasonable practices. As they approached Longueuil, they 
came upon a body of two hundred and fifty armed men, posted 
behind an improvised breastwork. The insurgents opened fire 
on the military, wounded the leader and five men, and rescued 
the prisoners. This success greatly inspirited the rebels, who 
rendezvoused in large numbers at St. Charles and St. Denis, on 
the Eichelieu, seven miles apart, where there was considerable 
disaffection among the population. The proximity of American 
territory furnished facilities for assistance from sympathizers, 
and of escape for fugitives. On the 23d of November, Colonel 
Gore, with three hundred men and only one cannon, attacked 
Dr. Nelson, with a large body of rebels, at the latter place. 
Papineau, on the first appearance of danger, deserted his dupes 
and fled over the border into the United States. Nelson, 
strongly posted in a large stone brewery, maintained a vigorous 
defence. Gore's command, worn out with a long night-march 
through November rain and mire, outnumbered, and without 



TEE REBELLIOX—LOIVER CANADA. 369 

artillery for battering the stone walls, was compelled, after six 
hours' fighting, to retreat, with the loss of six killed and seven- 
teen wounded. The insurgents lost thirteen killed and several 
wounded. Lieutenant "Weir, a young officer carrying de- 
spatches, was intercepted, pinioned, and was being conveyed in 
a cart to the rebel camp at St. Charles. Attempting to escape, 
he was *' mercilessly shot, sabred, hacked, and stabbed as if he 
had been a mad dog " — an act of cruelty which led to bitter 
retaliation. 

The elated rebels now swelled the camp of "General" 
Thomas Storrow Brown, at St. Charles, to about a thousand 
men. They were protected by a rough breastwork of felled 
trees. Colonel Wetherall moved down the Richelieu from 
Chambly to attack their position. The roads were ankle-deep 
with mire ; but "Wetherall, two days after the defeat at St. 
Denis, with five hundred men and three guns, confronted the 
enemy. They were smnmoned peaceably to disperse, but 
refused. A few rounds from the guns breached the entrench- 
ments, when the troops charged on the insurgents and put them 
to utter rout. Fifty-six were slain, and several fugitives 
perished miserably in the houses fired in revenge for the death 
of Weir. Nelson now fled from St. Denis, but, after ten days* 
skulking in the snowy woods, was caught, and, with many other 
rebel prisoners, lodged in Montreal jail. 

Martial law was now proclaimed. In the middle of Decem- 
ber, Sir John Colborne, with two thousand troops, left Mon- 
treal to attack a thousand insurgents entrenched at St. Eustache, 
on the Ottawa, nineteen miles from Montreal. The main body 
fled, but four hundred threw themselves into the church and 
adjacent buildings. The shot and shells of the cannon soon 
fired the roof and battered the walls. In the conflagration that 
ensued, fanned by a high wind, sixty buildings were consumed. 
Some of the insurgents, who had climbed the steeple of the 
church, perished miserably in the flames. Their rescue by the 
horrified spectators was impossible. The total loss of the rebels 
was a hundred killed, as many wounded, and as many more 
made prisoners. At St. Benoit, a hot-bed of sedition, two 

47 



370 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

hundred and fifty men surrendered under a flag of truce, and, 
except their leaders, were sent home unhurt. 

On the 28th of February, six hundred rebel refugees re- 
1838. crossed the frontier from the United States, but were 
repulsed by the local militia, and afterwards disarmed by the 
American authorities at Plattsburg. 

Lord Gosford was now recalled, though without any censure 
of his policy. The Home Government suspended the constitu- 
tion of the country, and created a special Council, half English 
and half French, to act in the place of the legislature. The 
first act of the Council, whose decrees had all the force of law, 
was the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act, in order to the 
more prompt and effective suppression of the revolt. The EarJ 
of Durham was, at the same time, appointed Governor-General 
and high commissioner for the settlement of public affairs in 
the two Canadas. He was a noblemen of great political 
experience, and had been educated in a liberal school. His 
personal character was attractive, and his private hospitality 
princely. He was to the last degree unmercenary, refusing 
any recompense for his distinguished services. He was refined 
and courteous in manner, but tenacious of his convictions of 
duty, and firm in carrying them into execution. On his arrival 
in the country. May 27, he announced himself as the friend 
and arbitrator of the people, without distinction of party, race 
or creed. And amply he fulfilled his pledge in the spirit of 
the purest and most disinterested statesmanship. He appointed 
a commission of inquiry into the administration of the crown 
land department, redressed grievances therein, and, as an 
equitable adjustment of their claims, granted pre-emption 
rights to ' ' squatters " on unpatented public territory. 

With the opening of navigation, re-enforcements of troops 
and ships of war arrived from England and Halifax, and all 
hope of successful revolt became more chimerical than ever. 
A difficult question was how to deal with the political prisoners, 
with whom the jails were crowded. The excited state of pub- 
lic feeling prevented impartial trial by jury. The murderers 
of "Weir and other victims of the rebellion had been acquitted. 



TEE REBELLION— LOWER CANADA. 371 

notwithstanding proof positive of their guilt. An amnesty 
was, therefore, granted to the great mass of the prisoners, 
which was appropriately proclaimed on the day appointed for 
the coronation of the maiden Queen, — June the fourteenth. 
Humanely unwilling to appeal to the arbitrament of a court- 
martial, the Governor banished Wolfred Nelson and eight other 
leading insurgents to Bermuda, — a light penalty for their 
crime, — and forbade Papineau and other fugitive rebels to 
return to the country, under pain of death. 

The Imperial parliament, however, annulled the ordinance as 
ultra vires, but indemnified the Governor and Council from 
blame for their unconstitutional act. The proud and sensitive 
Earl resigned his commission, and returned to England, and 
Sir John Colborne became the administrator of the province. 
Lord Durham's health was utterly broken, and two years later 
he died. His Report on the state of Canada is a monument of 
elaborate and impartial research, and prepared the way for the 
union of the provinces, and the subsequent prosperity of the 
country. The departure of the Earl of Durham was the signal 
for fresh outbreaks. The insurgents stopped the mails, cap- 
tured a steamboat at Beauhamois, and cut the St. John railway. 
The Habeas Corpus act was again suspended, and the troops, 
which had been strongly re-enforced during the summer, were 
distributed through the disafiected regions to protect the loyal 
inhabitants. On Sunday, November 5, the rebels made an 
attack on the Indian village of Caughnawaga for the purpose 
of seizing the arms and stores deposited there. The Christian 
Indians, rushing out of the church in which they were assem- 
bled, raised the war-whoop, and captured sixty-four of the 
attacking party. 

Eobert Nelson, a. brother of the exiled revolutionary leader, 
had crossed the frontier with a large body of rebel refugees and 
American sympathizers, and proclaimed a Canadian republic. 
While Sir John Colborne was advancing with troops to suppress 
the outbreak, on the 9th of November two hundred militia at 
Odelltown, posted in the Methodist church, kept at bay for two 
hours and a half a thousand of the insurgents. Ee-enforced by 



372 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

a hundred men, they drove them over the border, with the loss 
of sixty killed and as many wounded. The loyalists lost five 
killed and ten wounded. The revolt was promptly crushed, 
but with extreme severity. The loyalists retaliated for the 
ravages and pillaging of the insurgents by devastating with fire 
the disafiected sections of the country, and dragging with 
violence suspected rebels to prison. Barns and farmsteads were 
given to the flames, and their blackened ruins for years bore 
witness to the miseries of civil war. Twelve of the leading 
insurgents, after a fair trial by a court-martial, specially 
constituted at Montreal, were executed, and several others 
transported. 

The rash and infatuated outbreak of the deluded hahitans 
was the cause of much bloodshed and misery, and was utterly 
unjustifiable by their circumstances. They enjoyed a larger 
degree of liberty than did their race in any other country in 
the world, and every possible concession of the Imperial Gov- 
ernment to their requests was only met by more unreasonable 
demands. The duped and ignorant people were lured on to 
destruction by restless and designing demagogues, who, in the 
hour of danger, abandoned them to their fate, seeking selfish 
safety in flight. Never should the appeal to arms be made till 
every constitutional means of escape from oppression, — which 
under British rule these men had never known, — has been 
exhausted. 



THE REBELLION —UPPER CANADA, 373 



CHAPTER XXVm. 

THE EEBELLION— UPPEE CANADA. 

Sir Francis Bond Head, Governor of Upper Canada, 1836 — Messrs. Rolph, 
Baldwin, and Dunn, called to the Executive Council — They Fail to Secure 
Responsible Government, and Resign — Governor Head's Loyal Defiance — 
Evokes Outburst of Party Enthusiasm — Mackenzie Defeated at the Polls — 
He Rushes into Rebellion — Lord John Russell's "Ten Resolutions" refuse 
Elective Council — Seditious Gatherings, 1837 — Rebel Plans — Apathy of 
the Government — The Rendezvous at Gallows Hill — ^ Death of Colonel 
Moodie — Intrigues of Dr. Rolph — Night Attack of the Rebels — It is Re- 
pulsed — Van Egmond's Exploit — Rebels Routed at Gallows Hill — Loyal 
Enthusiasm of the Militia — Duncombe's Attempted Rising in the West — 
CoUapse of the Rebellion. 

WE now proceed to trace the contemporary events in the 
upper province. The great majority of the liberal 
party in Upper Canada sought reform only by constitutional 
measures. A small minority were betrayed into rebellion by 
party leaders, stung to resentment by the disappointment of 
their hope of radical changes. The mass of the population 
maintained an unshaken loyalty, and the revolt was suppressed 
almost entirely by the volunteer militia, without the aid of 
Imperial troops. 

The agent chosen by the Home Government to calm the 
increasing political agitation of Upper Canada was by no means 
well adapted for that purpose. Sir Francis Bond Head was a 
half-pay Major and Poor-law Commissioner, known to fame 
chiefly as a sprightly writer and dashing horseman, who had 
twice crossed the pampas of South America from Buenos Ayres 
to the Andes. His military training and somewhat impulsive 
temperament rather unfitted him for the performance of the 
civil duties which the critical relations of parties in the province 
made necessary. He confesses in his narrative of his admin- 
istration his unacquaintance with the vexed questions that 
agitated Canadian public opinion. "As I was no more con- 



374 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

nected with human politics," he writes, " than the horses that 
were drawing me ; as I never had joined any political party ; 
had never attended a political discussion ; had never even voted 
at an election, nor taken part in one, it was with no little sur- 
prise I observed the walls placarded with large letters which 
designated me as Sir Francis Head, a tried Reformer." He 
soon disappointed whatever anticipations Mackenzie and his 
friends had formed of his policy. 

On his arrival at Toronto, in January, 1836, Sir Francis 
found the parliament in session, and was almost immediately 
involved in the political strife that agitated the colony. Mac- 
kenzie, the most radical and extreme of the Reform party, had 
been elevated by the persecution of the Family Compact into 
the position of a popular leader, for which neither his talents 
nor his weight of character adapted him. Moderate Reformers, 
of the Robert Baldwin stamp, were left behind by the more 
violent agitator and his allies. The Reform party had been 
led to expect in Sir Francis a friend to their principles. He 
invited three of its members, Messrs. Rolph, Baldwin, and 
Dunn, to the Executive Council, but refused to recognize the 
doctrine of its responsibility to the Legislative Assembly, for 
which they contended. 

Messrs. Mackenzie and Bidwell sought an early interview in 
order to urge upon him their radical policy ; but Sir Francis, 
unjustly attributing to the whole Reform party their extreme 
views, threw himself into the arms of the Family Compact, and 
adopted those principles of irresponsible administration against 
which the Reformers had been so long contending. The Reform 
members of the Council resigned their places, which were filled 
by members of the Conservative party, as it now began to be 
called. The Assembly, with remarkable unanimity, censured 
the re-actionary policy of the Government, and, for the first 
time, exercised its constitutional prerogative of refusing to 
vote the supplies. 

Mr. Bidwell, the Speaker of the Assembly, seriously com- 
promised the character of the Reform party by reading in the 
House a letter from Papineau, urging the Reformers of the 



THE REBELLION— UPPER CANADA. 375 

upper province to unite with the anti-British party in Lower 
Canada in demanding the redress of their grievances. In dis- 
solving the parliament, Sir Francis denounced the letter as 
seditious, and, alluding to a covert insinuation that the people 
of the United States would assist a republican movement, he 
exclaimed, " In the name of every militia regiment in Upper 
Canada, I promulgate, ' Let them come if they dare ! ' " 

Conceiving that the very principles of the British Constitu- 
tion were at stake, he threw himself actively into the political 
contest. By published addresses and popular harangues, he so 
roused the loyal enthusiasm of the people that the Eeform 
party was badly beaten at the polls, and its leaders were 
excluded from parliament. Mackenzie is said to have wept 
tears of chagrin and mortification at his defeat. He seems now 
to have abandoned all hope of the redress of political griev- 
ances by constitutional means, and to have secretly resolved to 
have recourse to violence to accomplish his purpose. 

A despatch from the Colonial Office instructed the Governor 
to form a responsible Executive by calling to his Council repre- 
sentatives who possessed the confidence of the people. But, 
misled by the apparent success of his policy, he declined to 
make these concessions, which would have satisfied all moderate 
Reformers. *'I earnestly entreat you," he wrote to Lord 
Glenelg, the Colonial Secretary, "to put confidence in me, 
for I pledge my character to the result. I have overcome every 
difficulty ; the game is won ; the battle is gained so far as 
relates to this country. I would, therefore, request your lord- 
ship to send me no orders on the subject, but allow me to let 
the thing work by itself." He even tendered his resignation 
rather than execute the instructions sent. The Colonial Office, 
therefore, allowed the self-confident Governor to carry out the 
policy which he had adopted. Disappointed in their anticipa- 
tions as to the ■ character of that policy, the extreme left wing 
of the Reform party, composed of the partisans of Mackenzie 
and Bidwell, became more and more exasperated and prepared 
for the subsequent revolt. 

The *' Ten Resolutions " of Lord John Russell, founded on 



376 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

the report of Lord Gosford's commission, denied to Upper as 
1837. well as Lower Canada the elective Council which the 
democratic party in both provinces regarded as a necessary 
guarantee of popular rights. The objection urged by Lord 
John and the English liberals to this concession was that an 
appointed legislative Council was the Canadian analogue of the 
English House of Lords, and was a necessary check to crude 
legislation by the Assembly. If the Executive Council were 
made responsible to the people like our present ministries, it 
was also urged, the prerogative of the crown, represented by 
the colonial Governor, would be reduced to a cipher. This 
policy of repression was opposed in the Upper House by Lord 
Brougham, and the dangers against which it was supposed to 
guard have been shown, by the immeasurable superiority of 
our present system of responsible government, to have been 
entirely visionary. 

Mackenzie, soured and disappointed, now joined hands with 
Papineau in the desperate scheme of revolt. By seditious 
articles in his paper, and by inflammatory speeches throughout 
the country, he incited his partisans to insurrection. Sir 
Francis Bond Head, with a chivalric confidence in the loyalty 
of the people, allowed Sir John Colborne to withdraw all the 
soldiers from Upper Canada to repress the menaced outbreak 
in the lower province. Even the offer of two companies as a 
guard of the city and armoury, in which were four thousand 
stand of arms, was declined. Emboldened by impunity and by 
the removal of the troops, the rebel faction armed and drilled 
with assiduity. The hot-bed of sedition was in the Home Dis- 
trict, chiefly in the northern part, — in the neighbourhood of 
Lloydtown, and at places along Yonge Street, the great north- 
ern artery of the country. As no overt act could be proved 
against Mackenzie, the Governor, apparently unaware of the 
imminence of the danger, made no effort for his arrest nor for 
the prevention of the outbreak. 

Mackenzie endeavoured to precipitate the crisis by producing 
a run on the banks, advising the farmers who sympathized 
with his movement to demand specie for their bank-notes. The 



THE REBELLION— UPPER CANADA. 377 

Government loaned £170,000 raised by the issue of debentures 
to sustain the credit of the menaced institutions. The Bank of 
Upper Canada adopted an ingenious device to defeat the run 
upon its specie reserves. It kept a number of its friends at 
the counter presenting notes for payment. These were paid in 
silver, in the counting of "which a considerable delay took place. 
What was thus paid out during the day was trundled back in a 
wheelbarrow at night, and paid out again the following day. * 

In the month of November, Mackenzie, Eolph, Morrison, 
and other insurrectionary leaders, arranged, at a secret conclave 
at Toronto, the plan of operations. The rebels were to ren- 
dezvous, four thousand strong, on Yonge Street, near Toronto, 
on the night of December the seventh. They were then to 
march on the city, seize the four thousand stand of arms 
deposited at the City Hall, and rally their sympathizers among 
the inhabitants. The Governor and his advisers being cap- 
tured, a popular assembly was to be summoned, and a republi- 
can constitution submitted for adoption. 

The Kevs. Egerton Kyersou and John Lever, two loyal 
Methodist ministers, informed Attorney-General Hagerman of 
the seditious gatherings in the country, of which they had 
become aware in their pastoral travels. That gentleman replied 
that he did not believe there were fifty men in the province 
who would join in an attack on Toronto. The Government 
were also informed that quantities of pike-heads and pike- 
handles had been found concealed hear the village of Markham. 
Still the Executive, incredulous of danger, disregarded these 
admonitions of the impending rising. It seemed as if they 
desired to lure the malcontents into rebellion. Indeed, Sir 
Francis has left it on record, that *' in spite of remonstrances 
from almost every district in the province," he allowed ]\Iac- 
kenzie * ' to make deliberate preparation for revolt ; — to write 
what he chose, to say what he chose, to do what he chose." 

Through the precipitance of Dr. Rolph, who feared that the 
Government had detected the plot, the time for the attack 

* Life and Times of Mackenzie, vol. ii., p. 34. 

48 



378 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

was changed from the 7th to the 4th of December, On that 
date, four hundred imperfectly armed insurgents assembled at 
Montgomery's tavern, four miles from Toronto. A large num- 
ber of these had marched many miles through wretched roads, 
and were dispirited by the change of plan, and by the ill-success 
of the rebel rising in Lower Canada. Mackenzie was intensely 
chagrined at the precipitance which deprived the movement of 
its anticipated strength. With characteristic intrepidity, how- 
ever, he was prepared to risk everything in a sudden assault, 
which would probably have placed the city in his power. It 
was decided, however, to wait for re-enforcements. Mac- 
kenzie, and four others, advanced toward the city to recon- 
noitre. They met and captured two mounted citizens, Messrs. 
Powell and Macdonald, who were patrolling the road. These, 
shooting one of their guards, escaped and gave the alarm. 
Mackenzie attempted to prevent the escape, when Alderman 
Powell placed the muzzle of his pistol close to the heart of his 
captor ; but a flash in the pan saved the life of the insurrec- 
tionary leader. The Governor was roused from sleep, and his 
family placed for safety on a steamboat in the harbour. The 
alarum-bells rang their warning through the night. Th6 drums 
beat to arms, and the ominous sounds, heard m the rebel camp, 
told them that the time for a surprise was past. Loyal volun- 
teers, among whom were the five Judges, sprang from their 
beds, and hastened to guard the arms in the City Hall. Guns 
were distributed, pickets were posted, and every eflbrt was 
made to guard against a sudden attack. 

Meanwhile, a tragical occurrence had taken place at Mont- 
gomery's tavern. Colonel Moodie, a retired half-pay officer, 
living on the great northern road leading from Toronto, had 
seen an insurgent detachment proceeding toward the city. 
Mounting his horse, he hastened to apprize the authorities of 
the rising. At the rebel rendezvous he was stopped by a 
strong guard. Eashly firing his pistol, he was immediately 
shot by one of the insurgents, and died in a couple of hours. 
On both sides blood had now been shed, and a bitter civil strife 
seemed pending. 



THE REBELLION— VPPER CANADA. 379 

The next day the rebels had increased to eight hundred, but 
many were unarmed, and others had only rude pikes. The 
Governor, to gain time, sent Eobert Baldwin and Dr. Rolph, 
who had hitherto concealed his treason, with a flag of truce to 
inquire their demands. The answer was "Independence;" 
and a written answer required withia an hour. * Dr. Eolph, it 
is said, secretly advised them to wait till dark, and promised 
them the aid of six hundred sympathizers in Toronto. Mac- 
kenzie and Lount were in favour of an immediate attack, but 
deferred to the advice which they received. Under cover of 
night they approached the city, but were fired on by a loyalist 
picket, concealed behind a, fence, and one of their number 
killed and two wounded. After firing a volley, the front rank 
of the rebels fell on their faces, in order to allow the rear files 
to discharge their pieces. The latter, thinking their comrades 
all killed or wounded, turned and fled headlong. Mackenzie 
in vain attempted to rally the flying mob. They refused to 
renew the attack by night, intimidated by the perils of the 
ambush into which they had fallen, and many of them threw 
away their weapons, — the evidences of their crime, — and 
hastened to seek safety at their homes. 

Although during the night re-enforcements arrived, on the 
following day Mackenzie could muster only five hundred men. 
Dr. Rolph, and others implicated in the revolt, now that defeat 
seemed imminent, fled to the United States. The loyal militia 
throughout the country, clad in frieze, and armed with old flint- 
locks, pikes, and even pitchforks, hastened to the capital for its 
defence. Colonel McNab, at Hamilton, on hearing of the revolt, 
seized a steamboat lying at the wharf, and in three hours it 
was under way, crowded with the gallant men of Gore. 

* The above is the statement in Mackenzie's own account, written at Navy 
Island, January 14, 1838. But Sir Francis Hincks, in a letter to the present 
writer, says : " I have a vivid recollection of hearing at the time, Mr. Bald- 
win's account of his mission to the rebels. There was no demand for ' Inde- 
pendence,' but simply a demand for the credentials of the bearers of the flag 
of truce. . . . Dr. Eolph was an unwilling delegate. Mr. Baldwin was 
applied to by the Sheriff. Mr. Bidwell was applied to and refused, and then 
application was made to Dr. Eolph, who left town next day." 



380 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Van Egmond, who had been a colonel in the French army 
during the wars of Napoleon, now took military command of 
the rebels. In order to divert an attack from the main body 
on Yonge Street, he made a demonstration on the east side of 
the city. On the morning of the seventh, with sixty men, he 
fired the bridge across the Don Kiver, and captured the Mon- 
treal mail. The outgoing western mail had previously been 
intercepted with a view of isolating the city, and preventing 
intelligence of the outbreak reaching the loyal population of 
the country. Large rebel re-enforcements were also expected 
on this day, which was the one first decided on for the attack '; 
but the disasters already encountered prevented a general 
rising, and the loyal population had already rallied in large 
numbers for the defence of the capital. About noon on 
Thursday, therefore. Colonel McNab, with nine hundred men 
and two field-pieces, advanced against the rebels, who, to the 
number of four hundred, were posted in partial cover of a 
wood at Montgomery's tavern, or Gallows Hill, as it was 
called. The insurgent leaders were still discussing their plans, 
when the military music of the advancing loyalists was heard. 
Mackenzie asked the few hundred men who still clung to his 
desperate fortunes, if they were willing to encounter a greatly 
superior force. They responded that they were. '* And never," 
wrote their ill-starred leader, " did men fight more coura- 
geously. In the face of a heavy fire, with broadside following 
broadside of musketry in steady and rapid succession, they 
stood their ground firmly, but were at length compelled to 
retreat." The loyalists opened a sharp fire of musketry and 
artillery, and then charged with the bayonet. After a short 
resistance the insurgents fled, leaving behind thirty-six killed 
and fourteen wounded. Of the loyalists, only three were 
wounded. The tavern and the house of Gibson, one of the 
insurgent leaders, were given to the flames. Mackenzie, an 
outlawed fugitive, with a reward of £1,000 on his head, fled 
through the wintry woods, around the head of the lake to the 
Niagara frontier. He forded ice-cold streams, and hid in hay- 
ricks and in the forest, while his pursuers were beating the coun- 



THE REBELLION— UPPER CANADA. 381 

try on every side. He was befriended, sheltered, and guided by 
numerous sympathizers, notwithstanding the penalty for aiding, 
and the reward for betraying him. At length, after many hair- 
breadth escapes, he succeeded in crossing the Niagara Eiver, at 
Navy Island, to the United States. In a week the rebellion 
was crushed, and the muster of ten thousand gallant militia- 
men, — Eeformers and Conservatives alike, — who had rallied 
amid frost and snow, for the defence of the Government, de- 
monstrated the unshaken loyalty of the people to the British 
crown. 

Shortly after, an attempted rising in the London district, 
under Dr. Duncombe, a political disciple of Mackenzie, was 
promptly suppressed by the loyal militia, under Colonel 
McNab, and the leader fled over the border. 



382 HISTORY OF CANADA. 



T 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE "PATRIOT" WAE, 1837-38. 

The American "Hunters' Lodges" Organized — Border Ruffians seize Navy 
Island — Mackenzie proclaims " The Eepulalio of Upper Canada " — 
Destruction of the " Caroline " — International Complications — " Patriot " 
Attack on Amherstburg Eepulsed — " Bill Johnston " at Hickory Island — 
Detroit Invasion Eepulsed — Attack on Point Pel^ Eepulsed — Sir Francis 
Bond Head Ee-called — Succeeded by Sir George Arthur, 1838 — A Coercive 
Policy — Executions and Transportations — Eavages of " Bill Jolmston " 
and Border Ruffians — Battle of Windmill Point — The Rebels Routed and 
Leaders Hanged — Attack on Windsor — The " Patriots " Repulsed — 
Ignominious Close of a Banditti War — After-Career of Mackenzie. 

I HE rebel leaders ought now to have seen the hopelessness 
of their revolt. Their subsequent military organization 
and wanton invasion of the province were utterly without 
palliation or excuse. The American Government was guilty of 
grave dereliction of duty in permitting its frontier to be made 
a base of hostile operations against an unoffending neighbour. 
Secret societies, known as " Hunters' Lodges," were organized 
in many of the American border towns for the purpose of aiding 
the Canadian rebellion. Among their members were a number 
of Canadian refugees, but the greater part were American 
citizens. Mackenzie, Rolph, and other insurgent leaders, 
organized an " Executive Committee " at Buffalo, for the pur- 
pose of directing the invasion of Upper Canada. The large 
floating population of sailors, canal boatmen, and dock labour- 
ers, who thronged this important port, rendered it easy to 
procure recruits for the rash enterprise. In retaliation for the 
reward offered for his apprehension, Mackenzie promised a coun- 
ter-reward of £500 for the capture of Sir Francis Bond Head. 
He also offered generous prizes of land and a money bounty to 
all volunteers for the " Grand Army of Liberation." 

On the 13th of December, a mob, described by a Buffalo 
paper as a "wretched rabble, ready to cut any man's throat 



THE PATRIOT WAR, 1837-38. 333 

for a dollar," under the command of an adventurer named Van 
Eensselaer, took possession of Navy Island, about two miles 
above the Falls of Niagara. Here Mackenzie proclaimed the 
"Eepublic of Upper Canada," invited recruits, and issued a 
paper currency, redeemable on the establishment of the new 
republic. Few Canadians joined his standard, but about a 
thousand American border ruffians, intent on plunder, collected 
together. They were supplied with artillery and stores taken 
from the United States arsenal, or contributed by American 
citizens. They threw up entrenchments of logs, mounting 
thirteen guns, and opened fire on the Canadian shore. 

Colonel McNab, appointed to the military command of the 
frontier, soon found himself at the head of twenty-five hundred 
men — militia. Grand Eiver Indians, and a company of coloured 
volunteers. ^ An American steamer, the " Caroline," was 
engaged in transporting' men and stores to Navy Island. 
Colonel McNab, -after remonstrance with the American authori- 
ties, resolved on her capture. On the night of December the 
28th, Lieutenant Drew, of the Royal Navy, with a boat-party, 
gallantly cut her out from under the guns of Fort Schlosser. 
Unable, from the strength of the current, to tow her across the 
river, he ordered her to be fired and abandoned in the rapids. 
She glided swiftly down the stream, and swept grandly over the 
cataract. In this afiair, five of the ' ' patriots " were killed and 
several wounded. The . capture of the *' Caroline " was 
strongly denounced by the United States authorities, and it 
seemed for a time as if it would embroil the two nations in war. 
It was certainly extenuated, however, by the strong provocation 
received, and was subsequently apologized for by the British 
Government. The winter proved exceedingly mild. Naviga- 
tion continued open till the middle of January. Sir John 
Colborne re-enforced the Upper Canadian frontier, and isss. 
the hea\y artillery fire from Chippewa compelled the evacuation 
of Navy Island, January 14. 

Early in January, a force of several hundred men, from 
Qeveland and Detroit, well equipped with muskets and artillery, 
taken, with the connivance of the authorities, from the United 



384 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

States arsenals, made a demonstration against Sandwich, and 
Amherstburg. They rendezvoused at Bois Blanc Island, and 
their commander issued a gasconading proclamation, calling on 
the Canadians to rally around the standard of liberty, and free 
themselves from the British parasites who were consuming their 
substance. The loyal militia showed their appreciation of this 
gratuitous advice by spontaneously gathering, to the number of 
three hundred, armed with rifles, fowling-pieces, and pitchforks, 
for the protection of the frontier. Two schooners of the 
invading flotilla, laden with arms, which were openly shipped 
at Detroit, amid demonstrations of sympathy of the inhabi- 
tants, opened fire with round shot and grape upon the peaceful 
town of Amherstburg. 

The Canadian militia, though without artillery, kept up a 
vigorous fire of musketry upon the attacking vessels. Soon 
one of them struck her colours. Shortly after, the sails and 
cordage of the other were so cut up by the steady fire of the 
militia, that she drifted helplessly ashore. The gallant militia 
plunged into the water, and, notwithstanding the stout resist- 
ance of the crew, boarded and captured her, together with 
twenty-one prisoners, three hundred stand of arms, three pieces 
of cannon, and a large quantity of ammunition. Thus was this 
insolent piratical expedition defeated, with a loss to the assail- 
ants of five men killed and a large number wounded. The 
captured cannon were mounted on the crumbling redoubts of 
Fort Maiden. Soon the militia, to the number of nearly four 
thousand, rallied for the defence of the frontier, and were 
posted along the exposed positions of the Detroit Eiver. 

Although the loyalty of the Canadians had been so amply 
demonstrated, yet the rebel refugees and border ruffians con- 
tinued their wanton outrages all along the frontier. In utter 
defiance of international comity, simultaneous attacks on Canada 
were organized at Detroit, Sandusky, Watertown, and in Ver- 
mont. The last has already been described in the account of 
the Lower Canada rebellion. The Watertown expedition, 
under Van Kensselaer and "Bill Johnston," two notorious 
scoundrels, rendezvoused, to the number of some two thou- 



THE PATRIOT WAR, 1837-38. 385 

sand, on the 24th of February, at Hickory Island, a short 
distance below Kingston. The' jealousy and quarrels of the 
commanders, and the vigilance and energy of the Canadians, 
frustrated the designs of the marauders. 

The expedition from Detroit, about the same date, was re- 
pulsed by a vigorous artillery fire from the Canada shore, and 
disarmed by the American authorities, who, at length, began to 
repress this border fillibustering. 

On the 4th of March, five hundred "patriot ruffians" took 
possession of Point Pele Island, on Lake Erie, about forty 
miles from Amherstburg and twenty from the main-land. A 
force of regulars and Canadian militia crossing on the ice, after 
a severe conflict, dislodged and drove them to the American 
shore, with the loss of thirteen killed, forty wounded, and 
several prisoners. Two of the British were killed and twenty- 
eight wounded. 

The administration of Sir Francis Bond Head being attended 
by such disastrous circumstances, he was re-called by the Home 
Government. He was at once an object of admiration and 
aversion to opposite political parties. He was accused of 
intensifying grievances when he might have redressed them, 
and of trifling with the rebellion when he might have prevented 
it. On his return to England, he published a narrative of the 
stormy events of his administration, which, by his friends, was 
considered an exoneration, and, by his enemies, an aggravation 
of his acts. He subsequently devoted himself to literature, in 
which he was remarkably successful, and died in the year 1875, 
at the advanced age of eighty-two. 

Sir George Arthur, the new Governor, adopted the coercive 
policy of his predecessor. He was promoted to the Govern- 
ment of Canada from that of the penal colony of Van Diemen's 
Land. He ruled with a firm and heavy hand, having little 
sympathy for the now-accepted theory of responsible govern- 
ment. The jails of the province were crowded with political 
prisoners, for whose pardon numerous petitions were presented 
to the Governor. His reply was a sharp rebuke. Eeform, he 
said, had been the cloak of their crimes, and they should have' 

49 



386 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

an impartial trial — no more. Two of the leaders, Lount and 
Matthews, were hanged at Toronto, amid the regret of many 
loyal subjects. 

Lord Glenelg, the Colonial Secretary, now humanely and 
wisely interposed his influence to prevent the needless effusion 
of blood. Many persons condemned to death had their sentence 
commuted to imprisonment in the provincial penitentiary, or to 
transportation to Yan Diemen's Land, and the less culpable 
ones were released on giving bonds for their future good con- 
duct. Many, however, who were suspected of sympathy with 
the rebellion, fled from the country. 

The American "Hunters' Lodges," which numbered, it is 
said, nearly twelve hundred, with a membership of eighty thou- 
sand, still kept up the hostile agitation. The affair of the 
" Caroline," and the disputes concerning the boundary between 
New Brunswick and Maine, continued to menace the relations 
of the two countries. Sir John Colborne had all the frontier 
forts repaired, and garrisoned with troops sent out from Eng- 
land, and the militia were put in a state of tliorough efficiency. 

During the summer, several raids were made from over the 
border. On the night of May 28, the notorious "Bill 
Johnston," with half a hundred fellow-ruffians, in alleged 
retaliation for the burning of the " Caroline," captured the 
steamer " Sir Eobert Peel," at "Welles Island, on the St. Law- 
rence. The passengers were driven ashore in a stormy night, 
and the steamer, one of the finest on the river, was pillaged 
and set on fire. Johnston and his gang eluded pursuit amid 
the labjrrinth of the Thousand Islands, and, on the 7th of June, 
landed on Amherst Island, near Kingston, and plundered three 
farm-houses. A company of British soldiers and sailors scoured 
the Thousand Islands, and dispersed the pirate crew. Other 
marauding parties crossed the Niagara frontier and plundered 
the inhabitants. Thirty of them were driven into a swamp and 
captured, and their leader was hanged. Similar bands of 
ruffian ' ' liberators " appeared at Goderich and in the London 
district, but were repulsed by the loyal population. 

In the month of November, another attempt was made at a 



THE PATRIOT WAR, 1837-38. 387 

simultaneous invasion of the country at different points of tlie 
frontier. In Lower Canada, as we have seen, Dr. Robert 
Nelson was repulsed with heavy loss at Odelltown (November 
5). • On the 10th of the month, a body of "patriots" em- 
barked at Oswego in a large steamer and two schooners. Their 
object was to obtain possession of Fort Wellington at Prescott. 
Sailing down the St. Lawrence, they were gallantly attacked on 
Sunday, the 11th, by the " Experiment," a small two-gun 
British steamer. An injury to her guns enabled the ruffians 
to land a force of two hundred and fifty men, under Yon 
Schultz, a Polish refugee, at Windmill Point, beyond the range 
of the guns of Fort Wellington. The windmill, a circular 
stone building of immense strength, flanked by several stone 
dwelling-houses, offered a very formidable defence. The fol- 
lowing day, the invaders were re-enforced from Ogdensburg, 
just across the river ; but they were completely disappointed in 
their expectations of being joined by disaffected Canadians . The 
loyal militia swarmed in from the surrounding country to repel 
the aggressors. 

On Tuesday morning, a force of four hundred and eighty 
men, under Colonel Young of the regular army, advanced to 
disarm the invading brigands. Two armed steamers, the " Vic- 
toria " and " Cobourg," controlled the river, and prevented the 
arrival of re-enforcements or the escape of the enemy. Driven 
from post to post with severe loss, the invaders took shelter in 
the windmill and adjacent buildings. The American shore was 
crowded with spectators, who loudly cheered every supposed 
advantage of their friends. The guns of the steamers proving 
powerless against the thick stone walls, the besiegers had to 
await the arrival of artillery from Kingston. Meanwhile, the 
"patriots" remained for three days ingloriously hemmed in, 
unable to escape. On the 16th, a body of regulars and Royal 
Artillery arrived, and briskly bombarded the invaders in their 
stronghold. The latter soon surrendered at discretion, to the 
number of one hundred and thirty. The number killed was 
about fifty, but many of the dead were burned in the buildings. 
The loss of the Canadians was thirteen killed and a large 



388 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

number wounded. Von Schultz and nine others of the brigands 
were subsequently executed at Kingston by sentence of court- 
martial ; others were transported ; but most of them were 
pardoned and released. 

An attempt in the west to capture Amherstburg ended no 
less disastrously to the invaders. On the 4th of December, a 
body of four hundred and fifty men crossed from Detroit, amid 
the cheers of the citizens, took possession of the small town of 
"Windsor, burned a steamboat at the wharf, and advanced on 
Sandwich, two miles distant. On their march, they murdered, 
with shocking barbarity, Dr. Hume, a surgeon of the regular 
army. Colonel Prince, with less than two hundred militia, 
attacked and routed the marauders, with the loss of twenty-one 
of their number. He stained his victory, however, by shoot- 
ing, without trial, four men who were taken prisoners. The 
"patriots" hastily fled, some across the river, others to the 
woods, where many were afterwards found frozen to death. 
Three of the prisoners, after trial by court-martial, were 
executed at London. 

Thus, in disaster and defeat, ended the utterly unwarrantable 
*' patriot war," waged, for the most part, by lawless American 
banditti, upon a population loyal, with few exceptions, to their 
native or adopted country ; and even when desiring a reform in 
its institutions, seeking it only by constitutional means. The 
interruption of peaceful industry, and the large military 
expenditure caused by these wanton invasions, greatly retarded 
the prosperity of the country ; and the criminal abetting of the 
outrage on Canadian territory by American citizens was the 
cause of much ihternational ill-feeling and bitterness. 

The prime mover of the Upper Canada rebellion suffered in 
his own person the consequence of those disasters of which he 
was so largely the cause. For twelve years he continued an 
exile from his adopted country, with a price upon his life 
should he venture to return. Euined by the confiscation 
of his property, he earned, with difiS^culty, a precarious liveli- 
hood for his family, and too often was made to eat the bitter 
bread of poverty. His attempts to publish a paper at New 



THE PATRIOT WAR, 1837-38. 389 

York, and subsequently at Eochester, were signal failures. In 
tlie latter city, he was sentenced t» imprisonment for breach of 
the neutrality laws. For twelve months he languished 
in close confinement within the walls of Monroe County jail. 
From the poisonous miasma of a neighbouring marsh, he con- 
tracted an ague, which undermined his constitution and broke 
his spirits. His aged mother died, in her ninetieth year, while 
he was in prison, and it was only by resorting to a stratagem 
that he was permitted to receive her parting blessing. He was 
cited to attend, as witness, a trial, which was gotten up for the 
pui-pose, and which was held, through the indulgence of the 
sheriff, in the house where the dying woman lay. From his 
prison cell, a few days after, her truly filial son beheld her 
funeral. On his release, he obtained a temporary appointment 
in the New York Custom -House, and was subsequently con- 
nected for some time with the New York " Tribune." An 
amnesty for his treasonable practices having been granted, he 
returned to Canada (1850), and, as we shall see, entered 
again into political life. He often expressed strong regret for 
his ill-advised revolt, but he lived to see most of the reforms 
for which he contended carried into effect. 



390 HISTOBT OF CANADA. 



CHAPTEE XXX. 

THE UNION OF THE CANADAS. 

Beneficial Effect of Lord Durham's Report on the Condition of the Canadaa 
— Public Debt and Military Strength of Upper Canada — Hon. Charles 
Poulett Thompson, Governor-General, 1839 — He Urges the Policy of the 
Home Government for the Union of the Canadas — The Union Bill passes 
Colonial and Imperial Parliaments, 1840 — Provisions of the Union Act — 
Eesponsible Government Granted — Mr. Thompson is Eaised to the Peerage 
as Lord Sydenham of Kent and Toronto — Solicitor-General Draper's Bill to 
Settle the Clergy Eeserve Question Fails to do so — Brock's Monument Blown 
up — Patriotic Enthusiasm — McLeod's Trial Threatens Eupture of Peace 
with United States. 

THE report of Lord Durham on the state of the Canadas 
exerted an important influence on the destiny of the 
country. Its wise and liberal suggestions greatly tended to 
the pacification of public feeling in the colonies. It urged the 
principle of the dependence of the Executive upon the repre- 
sentatives of the people, and prepared the way for the estab- 
lishment of responsible government. "From first to last," 
wrote Lord Durham, " I have discerned in those dissensions 
which fill the parliamentary history of Canada, that the Assem- 
bly has always been at war with the Council relative to powers 
which are essential to be possessed by the latter, through the 
very nature of representative institutions." The report pro- 
posed the union of the provinces in order to restore the balance 
of power between the French and English races, and to remove 
the commei-cial difficulties between Upper and Lower Canada. 
In anticipation of subsequent political events, it suggested a 
legislative union of all the colonies, and the construction of an 
intercolonial road as a link between them. Although bitterly 
attacked by the friends of the irresponsible colonial Govern- 
ments, it greatly influenced the Home authorities, and encour- 
aged the advocates of constitutional reform in the colonies. 



THE UNIOy OF THE CAN ADAS. 39]^ 

Sir John Colborne, the successor of Lord Durham as Gov- 
ernor-General, had effectually suppressed the rebellion, and 
left the province in an efficient state of defence. On his 
return to England, in 1839, he was, for his distinguished ser- 
vices, raised to the peerage, with the title of Lord Seaton. The 
finances of Upper Canada, however, were considerably em- 
barrassed, the expenditure of 1839 exceeding by £10,000 the 
income, which amounted to £80,000. Owing to the construc- 
tion of the Welland Canal, and other public works, including 
the strengthening of the defences at the exposed points on the 
frontier, the annual interest on the provincial debt amounted to 
£63,000. The organized militia of the upper province con- 
sisted of one hundred and six regiments of infantry, with 
officers and staff complete, and a due proportion of cavalry and 
artillery. "With a population of four hundred and fifty thou- 
sand, she could muster a citizen soldiery of forty thousand 
men, or nearly one-tenth of the inhabitants. With the present 
population of Upper Canada of over one million one hundred 
and sixty-two thousand, the same proportion would yield a 
force of one hundred and forty-four thousand enrolled militia ; 
or for the entire Dominion, with a population, — according to 
the last census, — of over three and a half million, a force 
available for defence of over three hundred thousand men. If 
our forefathers, in the infancy of the country, with undeveloped 
resources, almost without roads, and with a scanty population, 
were able, almost unaided by Great Britain, to successfully 
withstand for three long years all the force that a populous and 
powerful neighbouring country was able to bring to bear, our 
present ability to resist any hostile attacks to which we are 
likely to be exposed cannot be reasonably doubted. 

Sir John Colborne was succeeded as Governor-General by 
the Hon. Charles Poulett Thompson, a statesman of libei-al 
opinions, of great tact and judgment, and, as President of the 
Board of Trade, of wide financial experience. The Home 
ministry had determined on the union of the two Canadas, and 
on the acknowledgment in the new constitution of the principle 
of responsible government. There was a considerable sectioii 



392 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

in either province to which both of these projects were obnox- 
ious. The task of the new Governor, therefore, was one 
requiring the exercise of consummate skill and prudence. In 
Lower Canada, it will be remembered, the constitution had 
been suspended on account of the rebellion, and a Special 
Council had been created to carry on the government of the 
country, in the place of the Legislative Assembly and Execu- 
tive Council which it superseded. The consent of the French- 
Canadian party to a measure that would give a predominant 
influence to t'he English-speaking population was not expected 
or solicited. That of the Special Council, representing the 
loyal sentiment of the country, and the authority of the crown, 
was anticipated for the union scheme, which was sustained by 
all the influence of the Home Government. One serious objec- 
tion was, tjiat the public debt of Upper Canada would be largely 
shared by the lower province, as a result of the union. The 
Special Council, howiever, agreed that as that debt had been 
principally contracted for improvement of internal communica- 
tions, alike beneficial to both provinces, it would be just and 
reasonable that such part as had been thus contracted should be 
chargeable to the revenues of both provinces. The ready 
assent of the Council was, therefore, given to the union scheme 
as "an indispensable and urgent necessity." It also expressed 
by a formal resolution the loyal sentiment that the adjustment 
and settlement of the terms of the re-union of the two prov- 
inces might, with all confidence, be submitted to the wisdom 
and justice of the Imperial parliament. A good deal of 
popular dissatisfaction with the union scheme was, however, 
manifested, and petitions numerously signed by the French 
population were presented against it. 

In Upper Canada, resolutions in favour of union had been 
passed in the Legislative Assembly, but rejected by the Upper 
House. Mr. Thompson had much difficulty in procuring the 
assent to the measure of that body, the majority of whose 
members clung tenaciously to the privileges which the new 
constitution would cause them to forfeit. The pointed de- 
spatches of Lord John Eussell, the Colonial Secretary, express- 



THE UNION OF THE CAN ADAS. 393 

ing Her Majesty's pleasure, placed, the opposition to the union 
in such a light, that the hostile majority were compelled by 
their profession of loyalty to the crown to support the obnox- 
ious scheme. The union bill was, therefore, introduced as a 
Government measure, and, after prolonged debate on its several 
provisions, obtained a majority of both Houses. The action of 
the Imperial parliament was yet necessary to give effect to the 
union. A draft of a bill, based upon the resolutions of the 
legislatures of the two provinces, was drawn up by Sir James 
Stuart, Chief Justice of Lower Canada, and submitted to the 
Home Government. This passed the Imperial parliament with 
slight modifications, and received the royal assent, July 23, 
1840. Owing to a suspending clause, it did not take effect till 
the 10th of February, 1841, when it was declared in force by 
proclamation. 

The Act of Union proviaed that there should be one Legis- 
lative Council and one Legislative Assembly, in which each 
province should be equally represented. The Legislative 
Council must be composed of not less than twenty life-mem- 
bers, appointed by the crown. The Assembly was to consist 
of eighty-four members, elected by the people. An Executive 
Council was to be formed, of eight members, any of whom who 
held seats in the Assembly must go back to the people for re- 
election. The Executive Council, like a constitutional ministry, 
,held office so long as its measures could command a majority of 
votes in the Legislative Assembly. A permanent civil list of 
£75,000, annually, was established in lieu of all territorial and 
other revenues previously held by the crown. The public debt 
of the two provinces, — that of Upper Canada being far the 
greater, — was made a charge upon the consolidated revenue. 
; Previous to the union, private members were allowed to intro- 
duce bills involving the expenditure of public moneys, and 
thus, from the lack of responsibility, reckless and ill-considered 
expenditure was permitted. By the Union Act, the initiation 
of such bills was vested in the Government, which must bear 
the responsibility of the measure ; but it must command the 
. support of a majority of the legislature. Thus the great 

50 



394 ' BISTORT OF CANADA. 

object of 3'ears of contention was secured, — the control by the 
representatives of the people of all the public revenues. The 
judiciary were, by a permanent civil list, made independent of 
the annual votes of the Assembly. 

In token of appreciation of his success in carrying out the 
Imperial policy of union of the Canadas, the Queen was pleased 
to raise Mr. Thompson to the peerage, with the title of Lord 
Sydenham of Kent and Toronto. During the summer he made 
an extensive tour of the provinces, to familiarize himself with 
their extent, resources, and political necessities. He was every- . 
where received with loyal demonstrations, and by his distin- 
guished abilities and courtesy of manner, won golden opinions 
even where, through political feeling, he had previously been 
unpopular. 

The most pressing grievance in Upper Canada, after the 
settlement of the union question, was that of the clergy 
1840. reserves. A bill was, therefore, introduced into the 
legislature of that province, early in January, by Solicitor- 
General Draper, authorizing the sale of these reserves, one- 
half of the proceeds, — after the indemnification of the Anglican 
clergy, to whom it was considered that the faith of the crown 
was pledged, — to be given to the dissenting bodies, and the 
other half to be divided between the Church of England and 
the Church of Scotland, in proportion to their respective num- 
bers. The bill passed the Assembly by a majority of eight, 
but it was not considered satisfactory by the Eeform party, and 
the question continued to be for some years a cause of frequent 
agitation. 

In the following April, a dastardly attempt was made by 
some unknown ruffians to blow up with gunpowder the monu- 
ment erected by a grateful country to the memory of Sir Isaac 
Brock, on the scene of his heroic death. An enthusiastic 
meeting of five thousand Canadian patriots was held beneath 
the shattered column on the 30th of June, at which Sir George 
Arthur presided. A munificent sum was contributed for the 
erection of a worthy memorial; and, after many delays, the 
noble monument which now crowns the historic Queenston 



THE UNION OF THE CAN ADAS. 395 

Heights, rose to perpetuate the name and fame of Canada's 
heroic defender, who, for her sake, had laid down his life. 

Towards the close of the year, a person of the name of 
McLeod, who had been deputy sheriff of the Niagara District, 
was imprisoned by the United States authorities on account of 
his alleo^ed share in the destruction of the " Caroline " durins: 
the rebellion. The Home Government determined to protect 
his rights as a British subject, and demanded his surrender. 
It was refused, and the difficulty threatened for a time to 
embroil the two countries in war. He was, however, acquitted, 
although by a court which had no jurisdiction, and, with his 
release, the warlike excitement immediately subsided. 



396 HISTORY OF CANADA, 



CHAPTEE XXXI. 

RESPONSIBLE GOVEENMENT. 

Inauguration of New Constitution — Kingston "becomes tlie Seat of Govern- 
ment, 1841 — "Double Majority" — Municipal System — Organization of 
Public "Works — Death, of Lord Sydenham — Sir Charles Bagot, Goyernor- 
General, 1842 — The Baldwin-Hincks Administration — Death of Sir Charles 
Bagot — Sir Charles Metcalfe, Governor-General, 1843 — Constitutional Strug- 
gle — Eesignation of Baldwin-Hincks Government and Formation of the 
Draper Ministry — Montreal becomes the Seat of Government, 1844 — Death 
of Lord Metcalfe — Earl of Cathcart, Administrator of Government, 1845 — 
Eebellion Losses Agitation in "Upper and Lower Canada, 1846. 

WITH the formal proclamation of the union of the two 
provinces, February 10, 1841, the administration of 
the government of Upper Canada by Sir George Arthur ter- 
minated, and Lord Sydenham assumed the vice-royalty of the 
united provinces. A new Executive Council was appointed,* 
and a new parliament was summoned. The elections were, 
attended with considerable excitement, which was all the greater 
on account of the imperfect facilities for recording the votes. 
The polling places were few, and the crowding and obstruction 
by the more turbulent members of the opposite political parties 
seriously interfered with the free exercise of the franchise. 

When the legislature assembled in the city of Kingston, 
which had been selected as the new seat of government, it was 
found that parties were very evenly balanced. The Eeformers, 
however, were able to elect as Speaker, M. Cuvillier, a Lower- 
Canadian member of their party. The Frencli members, num- 
bering twenty-four in all, held the balance of power, and were 
able for a long series of years, by their compact vote, to turn 
the scale in favour of whichever party could best promote French 
interests. 

* It was composed of Messrs. Sullivan (President), Dunn, Daly, Harrison, 
Killaly, Ogden, Draper, Baldwin, and Day, who all held public offices apart 
from their position as councillors. 



RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 



397 



It was to counteract this dominant influence that the principle 
of " double majority" as it was called, was introduced. This 




required not merely a majority of the whole House for the sup- 
port of the Government, but also a majority of the representa- 



898 BISTORT OF CANADA. , 

tives of each province separately. The application of this 
principle, while often a safeguard against sectional domination, 
frequently led to sectional jealousy, and sometimes to the 
retarding of needful legislation. 

The consunmiation of the imion did not, however introduce 
a political millennium nor put an end to party strife. The irri- 
tation produced by recent conflicts attending the constitutional 
crisis through which the country had passed, still lingered in 
many minds. It required all the tact and sagacity of Lord 
Sydenham to reconcile party difierences and to prevent friction 
in the operation of the new machinery of government. Mr. 
Baldwin found himself unable to co-operate with some of the 
members of the new Council. He therefore resigned office, 
which, indeed, he had only accepted provisionally, and had held 
for a time from an unwillingness to create embarrassment to 
the Governor by any premature action. 

The new parliament gave effect to several important meas- 
ures. The Welland Canal, which had been carried on as a 
private joint-stock enterprise, was formally assumed by the 
Government. The municij)al system was organized in general 
accordance with its present excellent constitution. The Muni- 
cipal Act* provided that from the 1st of January, 1842, muni- 
cipal authorities should be established in the several districts 
of Upper Canada, and should be ' ' capable in law of pur- 
chasing and holding lands, and of making such contracts and 
agreements as may be necessary for the exercise of their cor- 
porate functions." 

The administration of local affairs was thus transferred from 
the Quarter Sessions to town and county councils, elected by 
popular vote. The people obtained the direct control of the 
local assessment and expenditure for the construction of roads 
and bridges, erection of jails and court-houses, and the like — 

* Cited as 4 and 5 Victoria, Cap. x. Amended and consolidated ty 12 Vic- 
toria, Cap. 81. 

By the Municipal Loan Fund Act of 1852, to be hereafter referred to, the 
facilities for raising moneys for local improvements, railway and other purposes, 
were stiU further increased. 



RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 399 

as effectual a guarantee as can be found of economy and effi- 
ciency of municipal administration. The establishment of 
municipal institutions had been recommended in Lord Dur- 
ham's Eeport, but had not been included in the constitution 
adopted at the union. The question was taken up and carried 
through in the first parliament after that event. The extreme 
Conservatives regarded the bill as tending too much to democ- 
racy. The extreme Reformers demanded still further conces- 
sions to popular influence. By the votes of moderate men of 
both sides, however, this admirable piece of legislation, which 
has contributed greatly to the prosperity of the country, was 
carried into effect. The public works of the united provinces 
were also placed under the administration of a government 
department, at whose head was a responsible minister of the 
crown. The extensive works in progress were stimulated to 
completion by a loan of £1,500,000, guaranteed by the Impe- 
rial Government. Provision was also made by this parliament 
for postal, customs, fiscal, and educational progress and reform. 
Lord Sydenham exhibited his political wisdom by endeavouring, 
although not always with success, to remove the traces of the 
recent dissensions. The old members of the Legislative Coun- 
cil did not readily blend with those who had been newly 
appointed : some delayed to be sworn in, and some declined to 
sit at all. 

But this distinguished benefactor of Canada was not permitted 
to witness the full result of his labours, nor the triumph of that 
system of responsible government which he had assisted in 
introducing. While out riding, the fall of his horse fractured 
his leg. His constitution, never robust, and now undermined 
by his zeal in the discharge of public duty, was unable to with- 
stand the shock. After lingering in great pain a few days, he 
sank beneath his injuries, September 19, 1841, in the forty- 
second year of his age. He was buried, by his own request, 
in the land to whose welfare he devoted the last energies of his 
life. No columned monument perpetuates his memory; but 
the constitutional privileges which we to-day enjoy, and the 
peace and prosperity which resulted from the union of the 



400 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 



Canadas, which he laboured so strenuously to bring about, con- 
stitute an imperishable claim upon our esteem and gratitude. 

By the dying request of Lord Sydenham, Major-General 
Clitheroe prorogued the parliament, and Sir Richard Jackson, 
the commander of Her Majesty's forces, administered the gov- 
ernment till the appointment of his successor. The Conserva- 
tive ministry of Sir Eobert Peel had succeeded the Melbourne 
administration. The new Governor-General, Sir Charles Bagot, 
who arrived January 10, 1842, represented the opposite school 
of politics to that of his predecessor. The opponents of the 
new constitution anticipated a probable return to the old regime 
of irresponsible government. Lord Stanley, the new colonial 
minister, however, followed up the policy inaugurated by Lord 
John Eussell ; and Sir Charles Bagot impartially carried out 
his instructions. He recognized the important constitutional 

principle that the parliamentary 
majority should control the ad- 
ministration. 

In accordance with this theory, 
certain changes of ministry took 
place. Mr. Baldwin received the 
Attorney-Generalship for Canada 
West, in place of Mr. Draper, 
resigned. Mr. Sherwood gave 
place to Mr. Small, as Solicitor- 
General. Mr. Lafontaine * became 
SIR L. H. rAFONTAiNE. Attomey-Gcneral for Canada East ; 

and Mr. Morin, Commissioner of Crown Lands. Mr. Hincks 




* Louis Hypolite Lafontaine was bom at Bouclierville, in Lower Canada, in 
the year 1807. His grandfather was a member of parliament in that province 
irom. 1796 to 1804. The grandson early achieved distinction at the bar. In 
politics he was first the follower and then the rival of Papineau. During the 
troubles of 1837 they both fled from warrants of high treason. M. Lafontaine 
soon returned, as he had committed no overt act beyond writing an ironical 
letter which had been interpreted literally. He soon became a leader of the 
Eeform Party in Lower Canada, and, as we shall see, played a prominent part 
in political life. In 1853 he was elevated to the Chief JusticeshiJ) of the Court 
of Queen's Bench in Lower Canada ; and the following year was created, for 
public services, a baronet of the United Kiagdom. 




RESPOXSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 401 

had previously joined the Government, as Inspector-General of 
Public Accounts. The new ministers adopted the vrholesome 
English precedent of returning to their constituencies for re- 
election on the assumption of office. In a House of eighty- 
four members they commanded a majority of thirty-six. 

Mr. Hincks, the Inspector-Gen- 
ea-al, was a man of distinguished 
ability and energy. His father was 
a minister of the Irish Presby- 
terian Church, of great worth and 
learning. An elder brother for 
many years ably occupied a profes- 
sorial chair in the University of 
Cork, and subsequently in the To- 
ronto University. Francis Hincks, 
the youngest son, was educated to 
mercantile life. He came to To- sir francis hincks. 

ronto in 1832, and became cashier of a new banking institu- 
tion. 

In 1835, his financial ability was recognized by his appoint- 
ment to investigate the affairs of the Welland Canal Company, 
which were involved in much confusion. In 1838, he estab- 
lished the " Examiner" newspaper, in the Eeform interest, and 
achieved marked success as a journalist. He was subsequently 
returned to parliament as a representative of the county of 
Oxford. On his acceptance of office, he was re-elected by a 
largely increased majority. He was destined, as we shall see, 
to play a prominent part in Canadian politics. 

The second session of the first union parliament lasted only 
six weeks, but it passed through their several stages no less 
than thirty Acts. Liberal votes of supply received the assent 
of the Assembly, which asserted the constitutional principle 
that a detailed account of their expenditure should be sub- 
mitted to parliament within fourteen days of the opening of 
the following session. 

Sir Charles Bagot, like his predecessor, was not long per- 
mitted to discharge his official duties, nor to return to his 
51 



402 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

native land. A serious illness compelled him to request his 
recall, but, before it was granted, he became unable to leave 
the country. He died at Kingston, greatly regretted, sixteen 
months after his arrival, May 19, 1843. 

Sir Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, the new Governor-General 
of Canada, had risen, by the sheer force of his energy and 
talent, from the position of a writer in the East India civil ser- 
vice to that of Acting Governor-General of India. This post 
he held for two years (1834-36), and, afterwards, for three 
years (1839-42), that of Governor of Jamaica. His adminis- 
trative experience in these countries, where the prerogatives of 
the crown were unquestioned, was no special qualification for 
the constitutional government of a free country like Canada. 
The right of patronage, and of appointment to office, he con- 
ceived was vested in himself as representative of the crown, 
for the exercise of which he considered himself responsible 
only to the Imperial parliament. 

This principle was incompatible with the colonial theory of 
responsible government ; and the appointment of certain mem- 
bers of the Conservative party to official position, without the 
advice or consent of his ministers, was the ground of grave 
dissatisfaction. Messrs. Baldwin ^nd Lafontaine protested 
against what they considered an unconstitutional proceeding. 
They were held responsible by the Assembly for the acts of 
the Government, and had entered the ministry with the resolve 
to hold office only while they could command a parliamentary 
majority. Sir Charles declined to degrade what he considered 
the prerogative of the crown, or to give up his right of patron- 
age. Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine thereupon resigned 
office. This constitutional struggle created great excitement 
throughout the country. Party lines were sharply defined, and 
Conservatives and Reformers were again placed in strong 
political antagonism. 

With a Reform majority in the Assembly, the Conservative 
leaders were unwilling to enter the Government. A provis- 
ional ministry, under the leadership of Mr. Draper, was, how- 



RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 403 

ever, formed, which resolved to appeal to the country by a 
dissolution of the House, and a new election. 

The removal of the seat of Government to Montreal having 
been previously determined by a vote of the legislature, with 
the opening of navigation the transfer of the depart- 1844. 
mental offices and Governor's residence took place. In Novem- 
ber the new parliament assembled, and was found to contain a 
small Conservative majority. Sir Allan McNab, an acknowl- 
edged leader of the Conservative party, was chosen Speaker. 
Mr. Baldwin was the leader of a vigorous Eeform Opposition, 
nearly as numerous as the supporters of the Government. For 
his distinguished services in the East and West Indies, and in 
approval of his colonial policy, the Governor-General was 
raised to the peerage, with the title of Baron Metcalfe. 

The Home Government, this year, proclaimed an amnesty to 
all the leaders in the late rebellion, except Mackenzie, who 
was not pardoned till 1850. The feeling of hostility towards 
them had, to a considerable degree, subsided. By not a few, 
indeed, they were regarded as martyrs to a popular cause, and 
some of them were returned as members of the new parlia- 
ment, which met for the first time in Montreal, on the 28th of 
November. 

Twice, with the interval of a month, in the following spring, 
the city of Quebec was ravaged by fire. Twenty-four 1843. 
thousand persons were rendered houseless, and several lives 
were lost. A spontaneous outburst of charity relieved the 
more pressing necessities of the sufferers. Half a million of 
dollars was contributed by sympathizers in Great Britain, and 
nearly half as much in Canada and the United States. The 
American people promptly and generously sent a shipload of 
provisions and clothing to the foodless and shelterless multi- 
tude, — an act of international charity that should be remem- 
bered when the record of international strife and bloodshed 
shall be forgotten. 

The aggravation of a terrible malady, from which Lord 
Metcalfe had previously suffered, —a cancer in the face, — 
caused him to request his recall. He returned to England in 



404 BISTORT OF CANADA 

November, and shortly after his arrival died, greatly regretted. 
His munificent liberality, and many personal virtues, com- 
manded the respect even of those who condemned his political 
acts. 

The Earl of Cathcart, Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's 
forces in Canada, was appointed administrator of the govern- 
ment on the resignation of Lord Metcalfe. He observed a wise 
neutrality between the almost evenly balanced political parties. 
The discussion of the Rebellion Losses Bill began to profoundly 
agitate the country. The Draper ministry had recommended 
the indemnification of Upper-Canadian loyalists who had 
incurred losses during the recent political troubles. A special 
fund, arising from tavern and other licenses, was set apart for 
that purpose, to the amount of £40,000. The French-Cana- 
dian party supported the measure, on the understanding that 
similar provision should be made for the indemnity of the 
loyal population of Lower Canada. Six commissioners were 
ajjpointed to investigate such losses, and report to the legisla- 
ture. They were instructed to " classify carefully the cases of 
those who may have joined in the said rebellion, or who may 
have been aiding or abetting therein, from the cases of those who 
did not." The commissioners being unauthorized to examine 
persons or papers, based their report solely upon the sentences 
of the courts of law. As the loyalty of all persons was 
assumed unless they had been legally convicted, the number of 
claimants reported to parliament was over two thousand, and 
the aggregate amount of the claims was £241,965. This sum 
was made up by claims to the amount of £30,000 for imprison- 
ment, banishment, interruption of business, loss of goods, 
account books, and the like ; £2,000 for quartering troops ; 
personal property, £111,127; real property, £69,961; and 
interest, £9,000. Many of these claims were deemed quite 
preposterous, and others as being greatly exaggerated. The 
commissioners, however, considered that £100,000 would meet 
the actual losses of loyal persons. 

The manifest difficulty of adjudicating these claims made the 
report a very unsatisfactory basis of legislation ; but the Draper 



RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 405 

ministry, dependent largely on French-Canadian support, intro- 
duced a bill empowering the issue of debentures to i846. 
the amount of £9,986, for the indemnification of loyal persons 
in Lower Canada. This measure proved satisfactory to neither 
party. The French-Canadians considered it so meagre as to be 
almost an insult ; and the Upper-Canadian loyalists deprecated 
the giving of any compensation to men whom they regarded as 
having been, almost without exception, rebels. 



406 mSTORT OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XXXn. 

EEBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. 

Lord Elgin, Governor-General, 1847^ Irish Famine and Vast Emigration to 
Canada — The Draper Administration Resigns, and is succeeded by the Bald- 
win-Lafontaine Ministry, 1848 — Lower Canadian Eehellion Losses Bill — 
Lord Elgin Assents to the Bill — He is Assailed hy Violence, and the Parlia- 
ment Buildings Burned, July 26, 1849 — Tumultuary Demand for the Disal- 
lowance, of the Bill — Eioting suppressed hy tLe Military — The Seat of Gov- 
ernment transferred to Toronto and Quebec alternately — The Bill sustained 
hy the Imperial Parliament. 

IN the year 1847, while the settlement of the rebellion losses 
was still pending, Lord Elgin was appointed Governor- 
General of Canada. He was a son-in-law of the Earl of Dur- 
ham, and shared his liberal sentiments regarding colonial 
administration. He had succeeded Lord Metcalfe in the gov- 
ernment of Jamaica, as well as in that of Canada. His sound 
judgment, conciliatory manners, and commanding ability, 
enabled him to overcome formidable opposition, and to become 
one of the most honoured representatives of Her Majesty that 
ever administered the affairs of the province. 

The Draper ministry was waning in popularity and influence, 
and was narrowly watched by a vigilant Eeform press, of which 
the leading journal was the Montreal " Pilot," ably edited by 
Mr. Hincks. The Eebellion Losses Bill, and the secularization 
of the clergy reserves, which was strongly advocated by the 
Reform party, were prominent topics of public discussion. 

On the meeting of parliament on the 2d of June, Lord 
Elgin announced the surrender by the Imperial Government to 
the colonial authorities of the post-office depai-tment, and also 
that the provincial legislature was empowered to repeal the 
differential duties subsisting in favour of British manufactures 
— an important , measure of fiscal emancipation. The long 
talked-of intercolonial railway, which only reached its comple- 



REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. 407 

tion ill 1876, was also the subject of a paragraph in the speech 
from the throne. After a short but busy session, during which 
no less than one hundred and ten bills were passed, the legisla- 
ture rose, on the 28th of July. 

The season was characterized by an unprecedented immigra- 
tion from Ireland. In consequence of the failure of the potato 
crop through rot, a famine well-nigh decimated that land. An 
exodus of a large portion of its population took place, seventy 
thousand of whom reached Quebec before the 7th of August of 
this year. Every possible provision was made by public and 
private charity for the relief of their necessities, but not less 
than four thousand died from exposure and fever. Grosse Isle 
became a quarantine station. A temporary camp was formed 
at Point St. Charles, Montreal, where thousands obtained relief 
and assistance. At the latter place, the nameless graves of 
many hundreds are commemorated by a huge granite block 
which marks the spot. Immigrant sheds and hospitals, erected 
by the Government, were crowded to overflowing, and many 
slept *in the open air by the roadsides, or beneath rude blanket- 
tents. A relief fund was established on behalf of the famine- 
stricken sufferers who still remained in Ireland, to which all 
dlasses liberally contributed, even the Indian tribes on their 
reserves and the poor coloured people of the province, many of 
whom had not long escaped from bondage. 

The parliament was dissolved on the 6th of^ecember, and 
the elections were held during the following January. i848. 
The political contest was waged with great zeal by both parties, 
and resulted in a large Reform majority. Messrs. Baldwin, 
Price, and Blake were elected for the three ridings of York, 
Francis Ilincks for Oxford, and Malcolm Cameron for Kent. 
Papineau, the arch-agitator of the Lower-Canadian rebellion, 
who had accepted the Queen's pardon, was returned for St. 
Maurice, and Dr. Wolfred Nelson for the county of Eichelieu, 
the scene of his armed revolt, which he had lived to sincerely 
regret. 

On the opening of parliament, February 25, the, Draper 
ministry resigned, and Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine were 



408 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

entrusted with the task of forming a Liberal cabinet. The new 
Executive Council was composed of four French and seven 
British members — Messrs. Lafontaine, Caron, Yiger, and 
Tache ; and Messrs. Baldwin, Hincks, Cameron, Sullivan, 
Price, Leslie and Alywin. Mr. Blake, afterwards Vice-Chan- 
cellor, became Solicitor-General, but was not a member of the 
Executive Council. The formation of this cabinet was the full 
and final assertion of the constitutional principle of responsible 
government. 

The country was thrilled with horror by the atrocities of the 
three days' slaughter in the French capital during the Revolu- 
tion of 1848. Some sympathy was felt with the incipient Irish 
rebellion incited by John Mitchel and Smith O'Brien. This, 
however, soon disappeared on the prompt and bloodless sup- 
pression of the revolt by the policemen of Ballingarry. 

The Imperial Navigation Laws were repealed, and Canadian 
commerce emancipated from the ' ' differential duties " by which 
it had been fettered. The completion of the St. Lawrence 
canals furnished great facilities for internal traffic, of which the 
commercial classes were not slow in taking advantage. 

One of the earliest acts of the Baldwin-Lafontaine adminis- 
tration, on the meeting of parliament, January 18, 1849, was 
the introduction of the " Rebellion Losses Bill." It authorized 
the raising of £100,000 by debentures for indemnifying those 
persons in Lower Canada whose property had been destroyed 
by the rebels in the unhappy events of 1837, and for whom no 
provision had been made in the bill of 1846, introduced by the 
Draper ministry. 

The measure was vehemently denounced by the Opposition, 
as being actually a premium to rebellion, as parties who had 
been implicated in the revolt might, under its provisions, 
receive compensation for losses sustained. It was also con- 
tended that it was an injustice to Upper Canada to charge this 
payment on the consolidated fund of the country, inasmuch as 
the upper province contributed her own proportion to that fund, 
and would thus in part be discharging an obligation belonging 
exclusively to Lower Canada. 



REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. 409 

It was answered, in reply to the first objection, that all per- 
sons convicted of participating in the rebellion were definitely 
excluded from the provisions of the Act ; and in reply to the 
second, that the Upper Canadian rebellion losses had also been 
defrayed out of the same consolidated fund by the late admin- 
istration, whose policy the present government was only carry- 
ing out. 

But these arguments availed not. " No pay to rebels " was 
the popular cry. The excitement became intense, and even 
led to a disafi'ection akin to that which was so vehemently 
denounced. A British North American League was formed for 
the express purpose of breaking up the union. To escape 
from French domination, as it was called, a confederation with 
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick was proposed, failing which, 
the leaders of the League avowed their purpose of throwing 
themselves into the arms of the United States — rash words, 
which became the occasion of the taunt of disloyalty from their 
opponents. 

The ministry, however, sustained by a strong majority in 
both Houses, determined to face the storm ; and the passage of 
the bill was made the condition by the French members of their 
support of the Government. By a vote of forty-eight to thirty- 
two, it passed the Assembly, and soon received the assent of 
the Legislative Council. The intelligence of this vote caused 
intense excitement throughout the country. In Toronto, 
Messrs. Baldwin, Blake, and Mackenzie, the last-named of 
whom had just returned to the country a pardoned refugee, 
were burned in effigy. The house where Mackenzie lodged, 
and those of Dr. Eolph and George Brown, were attacked and 
damaged. 

It was thought that Lord Elgin, intimidated by the violent 
opposition manifested, would not venture to give his assent to 
the bill, but would either veto it or reserve it for the considera- 
tion of the Home Government. This latter course would 
probably have been the better, as allowing time for the popular 
excitement to become allayed. But however violent the minor- 
ity opposed to the bill, however high and influential their posi- 
52 



410 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

tion, the ministry by which it was proposed commanded the 
majority of both branches of the legislature and the confidence 
of the country. To veto the bill, therefore, would be to become 
a partisan Governor, and perhaps to kindle the flames of civil 
war. The French, denied the redress of their grievances by 
constitutional means, would certainly have been driven into dis- 
affection, and probably into armed revolt. It was the crisis of 
responsible government, and Lord Elgin, in spite of the men- 
aced odium of the Opposition party, determined to act as a 
constitutional Governor. 

On the 26th of July, he proceeded in state to the Parliament 
House, on the site where now stands St. Anne's market, and 
gave assent to the obnoxious bill. On leaving the building he 
was received with groans and hootings by a well-dressed mob 
about the doors, and his carriage, as he drove off, was assailed 
with stones and rotten eggs. 

The city was thrown into a ferment. The House met again 
in the evening. The fire-bells rang an alarm. A tumultuous 
crowd assembled on the broad parade of the Champ de Mars to 
denounce the procedure of the Governor. Violent speeches 
were made. The cry was raised, ' ' To the Parliament House ! " 
The excited mob surged 'through the streets, led by a party of 
men with flaring torches. The legislative halls were brilliantly 
lighted up, and the Assembly was in session. A number of 
visitors, including ladies, occupied the galleries. Suddenly a 
shower of stones shattered the windows. The rioters rushed into 
the Assembly chamber ; the ladies and members fled into the lobby. 
A ruflian. seated himself in the Speaker's chair, and shouted, 
" The French parliament is dissolved." The work of destruc- 
tion went on. Chandeliers were shattered, the members' seats 
and desks broken and piled in the middle of the floor, and the 
Speaker's mace carried off. The cry of ' ' Fire ! " was raised. 
The flames, kindled by the incendiary mob, raged furiously. 
The members strove in vain to save the public records. Sir 
Allan McNab succeeded in rescuing the portrait of Her Majesty, 
which cost £500. The rioters prevented the extinction of the 
flames. 



REBELLION LOSSES AGITATION. 4J^1 

Before morning, the Parliament House, with its splendid 
library, containing many thousands of valuable books and pub- 
lic records, was a mass of smouldering ruins. The money loss 
was more than the entire amount voted by the obnoxious bill ; 
but who shall estimate the reproach brought upon the fair fame 
of the country by this lawless vandalism ? 

The rioters, having carried off the mace, proceeded to attack 
the office of the *' Pilot" newspaper. The next night they 
wrecked the house of the premier, Mr. Lafontaine, and attacked 
the dwellings of Messrs. Baldwin, Cameron, Hincks, Holmes, 
Wilson, and Dr. "Wolfred Nelson. They were only prevented 
from assaulting the old Government House, where the ministers 
were assembled in council, by the bayonets of a strong guard 
of military. The Assembly, which met in Bonsecour Hall, by 
a large majority passed resolutions approving of the action of 
the Governor ; which, however, were strongly resisted by Sir 
Allan McNab and the Opposition. 

The same day a turbulent meeting in the Champ de Mars 
passed resolutions for an address to the Queen, praying her to 
disallow the obnoxious bill, and to recall the unpopular Gov- 
ernor-General. Three hundred and fifty persons, mostly of 
some local importance, signed a manifesto declaring that annexa- 
tion to the United States was the only remedy for the political 
and commercial condition of the country. This, of course, 
was a mere outburst of partisan feeling. 

On the 30th of April, four days after the outbreak, Lord 
Elgin di-ove to town to receive the loyal address of the Assem- 
bly. Although escorted by dragoons, he was greeted with 
showers of stones, and with difficulty escaped bodily injury. 

The mob increasing around the old Government House, and 
exhibiting much turbulence, Captain Weatheral, who was a 
magistrate, read the Riot Act. The rioters failing to disperse, 
he ordered the guard to charge upon them. The crowd cheered 
the soldiers as they got out of their way, but still awaited the 
re-appearance of the Governor. Not wishing to exasperate the 
excited mob. Lord Elgin left the building unobserved, and was 
driven rapidly in the direction of Sherbrooke Street to the 



412 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

nortli of the city. His escape being discovered, a hot pursuit 
was made in cabs, caleghes, everything that had wheels. He 
was intercepted in the main street of the St. Lawrence suburbs. 
A shower of stones shattered every panel of his carriage and 
severely wounded Captain Bruce, his Excellency's brother and 
aide-de-camp. Through the skilful and rapid driving of the 
postilions, the Governor escaped from the assaults of the 
enraged rioters. 

The next day the premier's house was again attacked. The 
military were obliged to fire on the mob, and unfortunately 
killed one man. An inquest was held, but an attempt was 
made to fire the house in which it was sitting. The funeral of 
the unfortunate man who was killed was made the occasion of 
a threatening demonstration. It was attended by an immense 
cortege, and the scarfs of the pall-bearers and housings of the 
horses were of crimson cloth — a menace of revenge. 

Temporary quarters were procured for the Assembly and the 
session was speedily brought to a close. Parliament sat no 
more in Montreal. This outbreak of mob violence drove it 
from the city, and it has never since returned. Deputations 
from Quebec and Toronto requested its removal to their re- 
spective cities. Mr. John A. Macdonald moved that Kingston 
become again the capital. Ottawa was also proposed, but it 
was resolved to transfer the seat of government to Toronto for 
the next two years, and afterwards to Quebec and Toronto 
alternately every four years. 

In consequence of the public censure of his acts, Lord Elgin 
tendered his resignation to the Imperial authorities ; but the 
Queen and the Home Government expressed their approval of 
his course, and requested his continuance in office. The Eebel- 
lion Losses Bill was sustained ' by both Houses of the Imperial 
parliament ; and Lord Elgin, assured of the personal favour of 
his sovereign and advanced a step in the peerage, continued to 
administer the government, and in time won the esteem of even 
his most bitter opponents. 



THE RAILWAY ERA. 413 



CHAPTER XXXm. 

THE EAILWAY EEA. 

Political and Commercial Emancipation of Canada — Parliament Meets in 
Toronto, 1850 — Clergy Reserve Question — Postal Reform — Northern Rail- 
way Begun, 1851 — Joseph. Howe Agitates the Intercolonial Railway Scheme 

— Canada at the World's Fair — Grand Trunk and Great Western Railways 
Projected — Retirement of Robert Baldwin from the Ministry — Francis 
Hincks, Premier — His Fiscal Policy — Quebec the Seat of Government, 1852 

— Incorporation of Grand Trunk Railway Company — Its Financial Policy 

— Municipal Loan Fund Act — Increased Representation — Financial State 
of the Country. 

FEOM the year 1850, the British North American colonies 
may be said to have entered on a new era, — to have 
reached their political manhood. The period of tutelage, — of 
government from Downing Street, — had passed away. The 
right to the management of their own local afiairs was conceded 
by the Home authorities, and that of responsible government 
was vindicated in the colonies. The British Government 
reserved only the right of disallowing any acts of legislation 
opposed to Imperial interests, and, on the other hand, assumed 
the burden of colonial defence. Canada was thus one of the 
most lightly taxed and favourably situated countries in the 
world, and oifered great inducements to the influx of capital 
and immigration, and soon entered upon a career of remarkable 
prosperity. 

The repeal of the British corn-laws, under the administra- 
tion of Sir Eobert Peel, in 1846, opened to Great Britain the 
grain markets of the world. Canada was, therefore, placed in 
a similar relation with other grain-exporting countries. The 
United States possessed, for a time, an advantage, through its 
superior railway system and facilities for exportation. Previous 
to 1847, the commercial relations of the North American 
colonies were largely regulated by the British Government 



414 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

in favour of British manufacturing interests. Higher duties 
were imposed on importations from foreign countries than on 
those from Great Britain. In that year, by permission of the 
Home authorities, these differential duties were repealed. 
Thus colonial trade was emancipated from a serious restriction. 
In 1849, the British parliament, by the repeal of the Naviga- 
tion Laws, broke down almost the sole remaining barrier of 
protection. Some derangement of commerce, especially in the 
maritime provinces, resulted from the repeal of these laws. 
American vessels could now be registered in British ports, and 
compete with the cplonial shipping in the carrying-trade with 
Great Britain. A temporary commercial depression followed, 
causing a degree of discontent which found expression in the 
complaint that England was casting off her colonies. A spirit 
of enterprise and self-reliance, however, was soon developed. 
Commercial independence was attained. The colonies were 
permitted to trade freely with any part of the world ; to import 
as they pleased, subject to a tariff fixed by themselves, and to 
cultivate home enterprises, and develop home manufactures, as 
they saw fit. 

In order to allay the discontent resulting from the transient 
depression caused by these changes. Lord Elgin was instructed 
to open negotiations for a treaty of commercial reciprocity with 
the United States. An agent proceeded to "Washington for 
this purpose, but the project was not consummated till four 
years later. But, meantime, the volume of international trade 
was annually increasing. Canadian exports and imports passed 
in large quantities, in bond, through the United States to the 
seaboard, especially in winter when the Canadian ports were 
closed, and formed an important item in the railroad traffic of 
that country. 

Commercial reciprocity with the United States, when finally 
carried into effect, caused an immense development of inter- 
national trade, and largely increased the value of every acre of 
land, of every bushel of wheat, and of every head of cattle in 
the country. A great impetus was also given to ship-building, 
to milling and manufacturing interests, to stock-raising, wool- 



THE RAILWAY ERA. 415 

growing, and cloth-weaving, to the construction of agricultural 
implements, and to every other branch of industry. 

This prosperity was still further increased by the extraordi- 
nary development of Canadian railway enterprises, and the 
consequent opening up of new parts of the country and in- 
creii3ed facilities for travel and transport throughout its entire 
extent. The large employment of labour and the expenditure 
of immense amounts of money in constructing the various rail- 
ways also greatly stimulated enterprise. Facilities for trade 
were still further increased by the establishment of the trans- 
atlantic line of steamships. Quebec and Montreal were thus 
brought within speedy and regular communication with Great 
Britain, to the immense commercial advantage of those cities. 
The introduction and rapid extension of telegraphic communi- 
cation also greatly facilitated the transaction of business. 

The establishment of municipal institutions created an intelli- 
gent interest in the local management of public affairs, and 
stimulated a spirit of local enterprise and improvement. The 
legalizing of municipal loan funds, the formation of joint-stock 
companies and expansion of banking institutions, promoted the 
introduction of capital and its profitable employment. 

The secularization of the clergy reserves and the abolition of 
seigneurial tenure, removed impediments to material prosperity 
and causes of popular discontent; the consolidation of the 
legal code simplified the administration of justice ; and the 
thorough organization of the public-school system and growth 
of newspaper and publishing enterprise contributed to the 
difiusion of general intelligence. 

To these important subjects reference must now be made 
somewhat in detail. 

In 1850, the seat of Government was transferred to Toronto. 
The first appearance of the Governor-General in the Upper 
province was made the occasion of the exhibition of some 
political animosity ; but the urbanity of his manner, and the 
integrity of his conduct, disarmed resentment, conciliated 
popular favour, and, at length, won warm esteem. 

On the assembling of the legislature, May 14, there was the 



416 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

promise of a quiet session. Warned by recent experience of 
the disastrous results of violent partisanship, both political 
parties seemed disposed to a truce, and avoided exciting topics 
and acrimonious debate. Mr. Papineau, indeed, resumed his 
advocacy of an elective Legislative Council, but this was only 
consistent with his life-long policy. 

The discussion of the clergy reserve question was renewed 
outside of the House, principally in the journals of the 
advanced Reform party, the chief of which were the " Globe " 
and "Examiner" of Toronto. Some of the older and more 
moderate Reformers, opposed the re-opening of this question, 
and were willing to abide by the settlement of the subject that 
had been effected by parliament during Lord Sydenham's 
administration. Another section of the Reform party which 
was rapidly rising into influence, wished for their entire secu- 
larization. A division in the ranks of the party thus took 
place, which led to future political complications. 

Meanwhile, the material progress of the country was rapid. 
1851. The transfer of the management of the post-office 
department was followed by increased postal facilities and the 
reduction of letter-rates, a uniform letter-tariff of threepence 
per half ounce being introduced. The magnificent system of 
internal navigation, by means of the Canadian lakes, rivers, 
and canals, was increased in value by light-houses and other 
improvements, and was soon to be largely supplemented by an 
extensive railway system. The first sod of the Northern Rail- 
way of Canada, — the pioneer of Canadian railway enterprises, 
except a short section in Lower Canada, — was turned amid 
imposing ceremonies by Lady Elgin ; and, by the construction 
of the road, a most important agricultural country was opened up. 

The importance, from a military point of view, of an inter- 
colonial railway between the maritime provinces and Canada 
had been pointed out by Lord Durham, and its construction 
had been a favourite scheme of successive Governments. The 
difficulty and expense of the undertaking, however, were so 
great that the Imperial authorities declined to guarantee a 
provincial loan for the purpose. 



TEE RAILWAY ERA. 417 

In 1850, a railway convention was held at Portland, out of 
which grew the project of the European and North American 
Kailway, connecting Halifax and St. John with Portland and 
the railway system of the United States. Joseph Howe, an 
energetic and patriotic Nova Scotian editor and political leader, 
threw himself, with characteristic enthusiasm, into these rail- 
way projects. Sustained by the public opinion of his province, 
he went to England to urge upon the Imperial Government the 
construction of an intercolonial road. His energy and eloquence 
made a very favourable impression as to the importance of the 
undertaking, and of the immense and valuable undeveloped 
resources of the country, — which was increased by the very 
creditable exhibit of the British North American provinces at 
the World's Fair of 1851, successfully projected by the late 
Prince Consort. 

A convention was called at Toronto by Lord Elgin, to settle 
the shares and responsibilities to be borne by the several prov- 
inces in this great undertaking. The Imperial guarantee, 
without which no loan could be raised for such a gigantic proj- 
ect, could not be obtained, and the scheme, for the time, fell 
through. Each province was left to carry out separate enter- 
prises of railway construction. In the province of Canada, 
the Grand Trunk line, connecting the lakes with tide-water, 
and the Great Western Kailway, connecting at the Niagara and 
Detroit rivers with the railway systems of the United States, 
were regarded as of more practical utility than one to the 
maritime provinces. Into the Grand Trunk scheme, Mr. 
Francis Hincks threw himself with characteristic energy, and 
the Great Western Eailway was actively promoted by Sir Allan 
McNab and others in the upper province. 

The growing intimacy of commercial relations between 
Canada and the United States was the occasion of a grand 
international fete at Boston, September, 1851, at which the 
most cordial sentiments of mutual peace and good-will found 
utterance. Lord Elgin, especially, won laurels for himself, 
and cemented the bonds of amity between the two countries by 
53 



418 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

the happy eloquence of his speech, and by the genial courtesy 
of his manners. 

The growing political influence of what might be called the 
extreme wing of the Reform party, popularly designated the 
" Clear Grits," from their supposed intense radicalism, led to a 
re-organization of the cabinet. Mr. Robert Baldwin, in accord- 
ance with his constitutional principles, had already retired from 
office on being outvoted on a measure connected with the Court 
of Chancery. In the new cabinet, Dr. Rolph, the former rebel, 
and now pardoned refugee, and Malcolm Cameron, another 
"advanced Reformer," found places. Mr. Hincks became 
premier by right of his predominant influence in the ministry, 
and entered upon that fiscal policy w^hich at once so greatly 
aided the development of the country and increased its finan- 
cial burdens. A general election resulted, in which several old 
and honoured members of the Reform party were rejected, and 
several new men were introduced. Robert Baldwin was 
defeated in York, and William Lyon Mackenzie was returned 
for Haldimand — striking indications of the change which had 
come over the party. 

During the following summer, a terrible fire devastated a 
1858. large portion of Montreal, chiefly the wooden tene- 
ments of the French population, destroying about $1,000,000 
worth of property, and rendering ten thousand of the inhabi- 
tants homeless. A generous outburst of sympathy and of prac- 
tical beneficence w^as evoked throughout the provinces by this 
disaster, in which all classes, irrespective of race, or creed, or 
party, joined. 

Quebec now became for four years the seat of government. 
Parliament met in the old historic capital on the 16th of 
August, and Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald became Speaker 
of the Legislative Assembly. During a busy session of three 
months, one hundred and ninety-three Acts were duly passed. 
No less than twenty-eight of these had reference to railway 
matters — an evidence of the enthusiasm which had taken pos- 
session of the public mind on this subject. Among the most 
important of these was the Act incorporating the Grand Trunk 



THE RAILWAY ERA. 419 

Eailway, one of the longest roads under one management in 
the world. The bonds of the company received the guarantee 
of the province to the extent of £3,000 sterling per mile. A 
further grant was made of £40,000 for every £100,000 ex- 
pended by the company. Thus, during the construction of the 
road, a sum of $16,000,000 was added to the liabilities of the 
country, and in fourteen years the indebtedness to the Govern- 
ment of the Grand Trunk Eailway, including unpaid interest, 
was 123,000,000. 

This increase of the provincial liabilities, however, was more 
than compensated indirectly by the immense impetus given to 
the internal development of the country, the increased value of 
real estate, and the facilities for transport and travel furnished 
to the public. As a financial operation the building of the 
road was disastrous to the English shareholders, its stock hav- 
ing always ruled very low on 'Change. The great cost of con- 
struction and of maintenance, the severity of the winters, and, 
especially at first, the lack of remunerative local traffic and 
travel, and competition with the through lines from the "West 
to the seaboard, and, during the summer, with the lake and 
river water-carriage, all conspired to greatly reduce its profits. 

Another piece of legislation introduced by Mr. Hincks, 
which largely increased the public indebtedness, was the estab- 
lishment of the Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund for Upper 
Canada. The intention, and to a certain degree the result, of 
this measure, were beneficent. It enabled municipalities to 
obtain money for local improvements, roads, bridges, and rail- 
way construction, which proved of great and permanent value 
to the country. Encouraged by the facilities for raising money, 
however, some municipalities rushed into rash expenditure and 
incurred debts, the burden of which, in consequence of their 
inability to meet their engagements, fell upon the Government. 
The Act was subsequently amended, extending its provisions 
to Lower Canada, and limiting the amount of the fund to 
£1,500,000 for each province. That limit was soon reached in 
the upper province, where the loan was most rapidly taken 
up, and the expenditure under this scheme, in the two 



420 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

Canadas, soon increased the public debt by the amount of 
nearly ten millions. 

During this session, by the Parliamentary Representation 
Act, the number of members of the Assembly was raised from 
eighty-four to one hundred and thirty, sixty-five for each prov- 
ince, and the representation was more equitably distributed 
territorially. 

Among the other subjects of parliamentary discussion were 
the abolition of seigneurial tenure, the introduction of decimal 
currency, and the establishment of a line of ocean steamers 
between Quebec and Liverpool — all of which were sub- 
sequently carried into effect. 

The finances of the country, notwithstanding its growing 
expenditure, exhibited remarkable elasticity, the surplus of the 
revenue being nearly $1,000,000*. Canadian securities bear- 
ing six per cent, interest were quoted at a premium of sixteen 
per cent, on the London Stock Exchange. The heavy interest 
account resulting from the legislation of this session, however, 
soon reduced the surplus to zero, and led to a series of annual 
deficits that greatly lowered the value of Canadian securities in 
the money market. 

• The reTemie for tlxe year was $3,976,706 ; tlie expenditure, $3,059,081 ; the 
surplus, $917,625. 



IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 421 



CHAPTER XXXrV. 

IMPOETAOT? LEGISLATION. 

The Gavazzi Eiots at Quebec and Montreal — Eeciprocity Treaty Concluded, 
1854 — Its Conditions and Results — The Hiucks Ministry is Defeated — 
It Appeals to tlie Country — Dissolution of Parliament and General Election 

— The Hincks Ministry Kesigns — The McNab-Morin Coalition Cabinet 
Formed — State of Parties — The Secularization of the Clergy Reserves 

— The Abolition of Seigneurial Tenure — Encouragement of Immigration — 
Incorporation of Canada Steamship Company — Resignation of Lord Elgin 
• — His Subsequent Career and Death — Retirement of Mr. Hincks — The 
Crimean War — Canadian Sympathy. 

TWO prominent subjects of public interest continued to 
provoke warm discussion in the political press — the 
settlement of the seigneurial tenure and the clergy reserve ques- 
tion. The latter subject was formally surrendered to isss. 
the Canadian parliament for legislation by the Home Govern- 
ment, by an Act passed May 9, 1853. The life-interests of the 
existing claimants on the reserves were, however, in accordance 
with Lord Sydenham's Act, to be strictly protected. 

In Montreal and Quebec, the great commercial cities of 
Lower Canada, the Protestant and Eoman Catholic population 
had dwelt together side by side, for the most part, in peace and 
harmony since the conquest. Whatever interruptions of con- 
cord had taken j^lace, arose rather from political than from relig- 
ious differences. An unhappy occurrence now took place, which 
led to a break in this harmony, and was the occasion of a good 
deal of acrimony. Father Gavazzi, an Italian priest, who had 
become a convert to Protestantism, was lecturing at Quebec on 
the topics of controversy between the two Churches. His 
impassioned eloquence excited the antagonism of his former 
co-religionists, who assailed the church in which he was speak- 
ing, and violently dispersed the congregation, June 6. Gavazzi 
proceeded to Montreal, and attempted to lecture in Zion Church 



422 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

in that city, three nights after the outbreak at Quebec. Fears 
of a riot were entertained, and a strong force of police, with a 
company of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, which had, a few days 
before, arrived from Gibraltar, were held in readiness for an 
emergency. A tumultuous crowd, composed, it was averred, 
chiefly of Irish Roman Catholics, broke through the police, and 
forced their way into the church. Here a formidable riot took 
place, pistol-shots were freely fired, and Gavazzi with difficulty 
escaped. The church was soon cleared, and hostilities were re- 
sumed without the building. The mayor of the city, Mr. Charles 
Wilson, read the Riot Act, and invoked the aid of the military, 
placing them in two divisions between, the combatants.' It was 
alleged that the mayor gave the command to fire on the crowd. 
This, however, he afterwards positively denied. It seems 
probable that one man discharged his piece through mis- 
apprehension. Others followed his example, till the officers 
threw themselves in front and struck up the firelocks. By the 
volley, five persons were slain and forty wounded, some of 
them very severely. 

This tragical occurrence caused intense excitement in the 
city and throughout the country. A very bitter feeling was 
manifested toward the military, some of whom were waylaid 
and beaten in the street. A court of inquiry was held, and 
the regiment was shortly transferred to Bermuda. The fact 
that the mayor was a Roman Catholic, intensified the party 
religious feeling, and unfavourably afiected the popularity of 
the Hincks administration. It was accused of manifesting 
partiality toward the Roman Catholic faction, in order to secure 
their political support. A considerable number of the Protest- 
ant population transferred their allegiance to Mr. Brown, who 
was regarded as the most eminent supporter of Protestantism 
in the Assembly. 

The delay in dealing with the long-vexed clergy reserve and 
seigneurial tenure questions was a strong ground of dissatisfac- 
tion with a large and growing section of the Reform party. 
Charges of political corruption, and of emj^loying his official 
influence for the advantage of himself and his friends, in the 



IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 423 

purchase of city debentures and public lands, were freely made 
against Mr. Hincks, and materially lessened his popularity and 
that of his Government. It must be stated, however, although 
members of his administration may have acquired property 
through political influence, that Mr. Hincks, on the fall of his 
Government, was still a poor man. The Conservative Opposi- 
tion was now strengthened by the co-operation of many of the 
advanced Eeform party, of whom Mr. Brown and Mr. William 
Lyon Mackenzie may be regarded as conspicuous examples. 

The subject of international reciprocity between Canada and 
the United States, had, ever since the repeal of the Navigation 
Laws in 1849, engaged the attention of both Luperial 1854. 
and colonial authorities. The negotiations between the two 
neighbouring countries were now happily approaching com- 
pletion. Lord Elgin, having first gone to England to promote 
the scheme, proceeded to "Washington, as the special envoy of 
the Imperial Government, to close the treaty. It was signed 
on the 5th of June, 1854, by Lord Elgin and the Hon. W. L. 
Marcy, as representatives of their respective countries. It 
provided for the free interchange of the products of the sea, 
the soil, the forest, and the mine. The waters of the St. Law- 
rence, the St. John and the canals, and the inshore fisheries 
in the British waters, were conceded to the United States ; and 
the navigation of Lake Michigan was thrown open to Canada. 
By the provisions of the treaty, it was to continue in force for 
ten years from March, 1855, and was then terminable on twelve 
months' notice from either party. 

To the agricultural population of Canada, the treaty was 
attended with immense advantage, and gave an important 
stimulus to every branch of productive industry. The mari- 
time provinces, however, complained that the United States had 
nothing to exchange comparable with the valuable fisheries of 
their waters ; and that while American shipping was admitted 
to the same privileges as that of Great Britain, yet colonial 
vessels were refused registration in the ports of the United 
States or a share of the coasting-trade. 



424 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

e 

Parliament did not meet till the 13th of June,* instead of, as 
usual, in the more convenient season of midwinter, which cir- 
cumstance was made the subject of adverse comment. But as 
Lord Elgin and Mr. Hincks had both been in England for 
several months, engaged in the service of the country, their 
absence was jaleaded as an excuse for the unusual delay. A 
more serious charge against the Government was, that when 
Parliament did meet, not a word Avas said in the speech from 
the throne about either of those important themes — the clergy 
reserves or the seigneurial tenure. The intention of the 
Government was to limit the business of the session to the 
legislation required to give eifect to the Keciprocity Treaty, and 
to bring into operation the Act extending the franchise which had 
previously passed, but which did not take effect till the follow- 
ing year. It was deemed proper by the ministry, in accordance 
with constitutional usage, not to legislate on the important 
topics which were agitating the public mind in an expiring 
House, which had been pronounced an inadequate representation 
of the people. The Opposition, led by Sir Allan McNab and 
Mr. John A. Macdonald, determined, if possible, to defeat the 
ministry on the address in reply to the Governor's speech. Mr. 
Cauchon moved an amendment, expressing censure of the Gov- 
ernment for the delay in the settlement of the seigneurial tenure 
and clergy reserve questions; and the ministers found them- 
selves beaten by a majority of thirteen, in a House of seventy- 
one, June 21. The defeated ministry, in the hope of increasing 
their following, resolved to appeal to the country, and the fol- 
lowing day Lord Elgin came down in state and prorogued the 
House, with a view to its immediate dissolution, although not a 
single bill had been passed. 

The dissolution of parliament was soon proclaimed, and writs 
were issued for a new election. The premier, Mr. Hincks, was 
returned for two constituencies — Renfrew and South Oxford ; 

* During the recess, the old parliament building at Quebec was destroyed 
by fire, and war against Eussia was declared. The latter event conspicuously 
demonstrated the enthusiastic loyalty of Canada to the mother country. 



IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 425 

but Mr. Brown was elected member for Lambton by a large 
majority over Mr. Malcolm Cameron, the Postmaster-General. 

The Reform party was now openly divided, and the leading 
Eeform papers, as the " Globe," *' Examiner," <' North Ameri- 
can," and " Macken2;ie's Message," strove vigorously to lessen 
the strength of the ministry. On the assembling of the new 
parliament, September 5, it was evident that thcj had suc- 
ceeded. Mr. George Etienne Cartier, the ministerial candidate 
for Speaker, was defeated by a union of the Conservative 
Opposition and the extreme Reformers. The breach in the 
once solid Reform phalanx was now complete. 

The ministry still hoped that their liberal programme of 
legislation for the session, including a proposition to make the 
Upper House elective, and, at length, to deal with the 
seigneurial tenure and clergy reserve questions, would prolong 
their term of office. They were, however, destined to dis- 
appointment. 

On the opening of parliament, a question of privilege arose. 
The Attorney-General for Lower Canada requested twenty-four 
hours for consideration. The House refused the request, Dr. 
Rolph, a member of the ministry, voting with the Opposition. 
Mr. Hincks and his colleagues had now no alternative but to 
resign. Their parliamentary influence, however, was still 
greater than that of either of the parties opposed to them 
separately, by the combination of which they were thrust from 
power. 

When Sir Allan McNab was called on to form a new ministry, 
he made overtures to the members of the defeated administra- 
tion for the formation of a coalition Government, on the basis 
of the policy already announced in the speech from the throne. 
The carrying out of this policy the country demanded, and no 
Government which refused it could hope for popular support. 
The nev^ ministry included among its members Sir Allan 
McNab, President of the Council ; Mr. John A. Macdonald, 
IVIr. William Cayley, Mr. Robert Spence, and Mr. Chauveau ; 
and represented both the Conservative and Reform elements of 
the House. Many supporters of the old administration, how- 

54 



426 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

ever, went into opposition, together with the extreme Reform- 
ers, by whose aid it had been overthrown. 

The new ministers had, of course, to return to their con- 
stituencies for re-election. They were strongly opposed by 
extreme politicians of both parties, but were all returned to 
parliament. On the resumption of their seats, the position of 
parties may be briefly described as follows ; — 

The Conservative parties of Upper and Lower Canada, which 
had previously been separated by local differences, were now 
consolidated under the joint leadership of Sir Allan McNab and 
Mr. Morin, and were re-enforced by a considerable section of 
the Reform party, led by Mr. Hincks. The Opposition con- 
sisted of a remnant of the old ministerial party, led by Mr. 
John Sandfield Macdonald ; the Rouges, or Liberal party, of 
Lower Canada, under the leadership of Mr. Dorion, and the 
extreme Reformers, popularly known as " Clear Grits," who 
regarded Mr. Brown as their chief, and the " Globe," news- 
paper, now become a powerful political organ, as the exponent 
of their opinions. 

The policy of the Government, however, included measures 
for which the Reform party had long contended. Prominent 
among these was one for the secularization of the clergy re- 
serves. A bill was therefore promptly brought forward for 
that purpose. By the bill previously introduced by the Draper 
administration for the settlement of this question, the vast 
revenue arising from these reserves, at first claimed exclusively 
for the Church of England, was proposed to be divided with 
the Church of Scotland and other denominations, in proportion 
to their private contributions to the sujjport of their clergy. 
But the principle of the voluntary support of the ministry by 
the people, which had led to the Free Church secession in Scot- 
land in 1843, and which had been previously held by other 
dissenting bodies, was widely prevalent throughout Canada. 
The ministry, therefore, although many of their supporters 
were opposed to the principle, were forced to yield to the 
popular demand. The clergy reserve lands, originally amount- 
ing to one-seventh of all the crown territory of the province, 



IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 427 

were consequently handed over to the various municipal cor- 
porations in proportion to their population, to be employed for 
secular purposes. The life-interests of the existing incumbents 
were commuted, with the consent of the holders, for a small 
permanent endowment, and this long-vexed question was 
settled forever ; the principle of the perfect religious equality 
of all denominations, in the eye of the law, had finally 
triumphed. 

The other "burning question," which urgently demanded 
legislation, related exclusively to Lower Canada. This was the 
system of seigneurial tenure, whose vexatious conditions 
greatly retarded the progress of the country. This System was 
a legacy from the okV French regime. Much of the land of 
New France had been granted to scions of noble houses under 
the feudal conditions, obtaining in the Old World, as previously 
described.* It was chiefly when the population became more 
dense and the transfers of property more frequent, that these 
conditions became oppressively felt, especially that requiring 
the payment of one-twelfth of the purchase price of the land to 
the seigneur at every sale, and the vexatious milling and fishing 
dues, and other conditions of vassalage imposed on the tenants. 
The value of these seigneurial claims had greatly increased, and 
they could be equitably abolished only by a commutation from 
the public funds of the province, supplemented by certain pay- 
ments of the censitaires, or small land-holders, in consideration 
of the exemptions about to be granted them. The entire 
expenditure under the authority of this Act was a little over 
two and a half million dollars. Thus was abolished, without 
violence or revolution as in other lands, the last vestige of the 
feudal system in the New World. 

Measures were also adopted by the Government for the en- 
couragement of immigration ; quarantine stations and hospitals 
were established, and agents appointed for furnishing authentic 
information, obtaining land grants, and generally assisting 
immigrants on their arrival on our shores. 

* See pages 120-122. 



428 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The Canada Ocean Steamship Company was also incorporated 
by Act of Parliament, and was aided by a subsidy of $1,800,- 
000. From this beginning has grown one of the largest steam 
fleets that plough the ocean. Direct trade with Great Britain 
has been greatly stimulated, and the city of Montreal has been 
made one of the great seaports of the world. 

On the 18th of December, parliament adjourned, and the 
following day, Lord Elgin resigned the Governor-Generalship 
of the province. He had won the lasting esteem and admira- 
tion of a people who had been largely alienated in sympathy 
from his administration. He subsequently employed his dis- 
tino-uished abilities in the service of his sovereign, in the 
discharge of difficult and important missions in China and 
Japan. As the highest gift of the crown, he received, in 1862, 
the appointment of Governor-General of India ; and the follow- 
ing year, worn out with excessive labours, he died beneath the 
shadows of the Himalayas, leaving behind him the blameless 
reputation of a Christian statesman. 

Mr. Hincks also retired from Canadian public life. He re- 
turned to England, and received the appointment of Governor- 
in-Chief of the Windward West India Islands. After serving 
in the Barbadoes for the full term of six years, he was promoted 
to the Government of British Guiana, where he remained till 
1869. In recognition of his distinguished public services, he 
received the honour of knighthood. He subsequently returned 
to Canada, and, as we shall see, entered again into public life. 

The gallant struggle of the allied armies against the hosts of 
Bussia, now in progress, evoked the enthusiastic loyalty of both 
Canadas. England, in conjunction with France and Turkey, 
felt constrained to oppose the Kussian invasion of the Danubian 
principalities, and the forcing of a humiliating treaty on the 
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The glorious but dear-brought 
victory of the Alma became the occasion for the practical 
expression of Canadian sympathy in the grant of £20,000 for 
the benefit of the widows and orphans of the fallen heroes of 
those gory slopes, dyed with the best blood of three allied 
nations. 



IMPORTANT LEGISLATION. 429 

The invading armies now undertook the siege of Sebastopol, 
which had been enormously strengthened, and made one of the 
most formidable fortifications in the world. But the frosts and 
snows of winter proved more terrible than the Russian sword. 
Disease, exposure, and toil in the trenches, wasted the allied 
armies to a frightful extent. The Aberdeen ministry, under 
which gross military mismanagement and neglect occurred, was 
compelled to resign, and Lord Palmerston was summoned to 
the helm of state. The flower of the English army perished in 
this disastrous siege, with its frequent sorties and battles ; and 
many a British home was called to mourn the appalling desola- 
tions caused by the Crimean War. 



4:30 . EISTOET OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE COALITION MINISTRY. 

Sir Edmund Walker Head, Governor-General, 1855 — Militia Organization — 
Financial Prosperity — The Corrigan Trial — Mr. Jolm A. Macdonald, 
Premier, 1856 — The Legislative Council made Elective — Its Constitution 
— Chinese War and Indian Mutiny — Commercial Crisis, 1857 — General 
Election, 1858 — Eeform Majority in Upper Canada — Demand for " Eepre- 
sentation by Population" — Sketch of Mr. George Brown's Career and 
Character. 

SIR Edmund "Walker Head, the successor of Lord Elgin as 
Governor-General of Canada, was a gentleman of dis- 
1855. tinguished scholarship, a prizeman and fellow of Oriel 
College, Oxford, a linguist of remarkable attainments and an 
admirable connoisseur and art-critic. As a writer, he distin- 
guished himself by fine taste and scholarship, and in public 
life he manifested considerable administrative ability. His first 
diplomatic appointment was that of Governor of New Bruns- 
wick, from which he was promoted to the position of Governor- 
General of British North America. 

In the coalition ministry, during recess, Messrs. Cauchon, 
Cartier, and Lemieux, succeeded Messrs. Morin, Chauveau, 
and Chabot. The large and solid majority of the ministry 
exempted it from the efiects of party skirmishing, and from 
the necessity of strategic tactics. A large amount of impor- 
tant legislation, represented by no less than two hundred and 
fifty-one bills, was transacted. Prominent among these was a 
new Militia Act, which provided for the organization of effi- 
ciently equipped and officered volunteer corps. As a result of 
this Actj the previously existing paper army of sedentary 
militia gave place to the gallant citizen soldiery which at 
Ridge way and Freligshburg protected our frontier with their 
lives and blood. 



THE COALITION MINISTRY. 401 

During the winter the tragic tale of siege and sortie, of frost 
and fire, of sickness and suffering, and death in the hospitals, 
camps and trenches before Sebastopol, thrilled the souls of 
British patriots around the world, and nowhere more than 
throughout the length and breadth of Canada. In almost every 
town and hamlet generous donations were contributed to the 
nation's heroes, who so gallantly maintained her name and fame 
on a foreign shore. The illustrious victories of Balaclava, 
Inkerman, and Sebastopol, became memories of imperishable 
power, and kindled beacon-fires of joy throughout the land, 
from the rock-built citadel of Quebec to the remote villages on 
the shores of Lake Huron. 

The financial prosperity of Canada after the emancipation of 
her trade, in 1849, was very great. In 1854, the customs 
duties, at the average rate of twelve per cent., had amounted 
to nearly five millions, and the total public revenue to over 
six millions, while the expenditure was only a little over four 
millions. The railway legislation had, however, added twenty- 
one millions to the public debt, which, in the year 1855, had 
risen to the verge of thirty-nine millions. 

The seat of government was again removed to Toronto, 
where parliament was opened on the 15th of February. i856. 
The speech from the throne announced that a large amount of 
money accruing from clergy reserve lands was awaiting dis- 
bursement among the municipalities ; that ihe contract had 
been closed for the establishment of the Canadian transatlantic 
steamship line ; and that certain legislative reforms would be 
brought under the notice of the House, including the old con- 
stitutional question of an elective Legislative Council. It also 
congratulated the country on the peace and prosperity which it 
enjoyed, while other portions of the world were racked with 
the throes of war. 

The debate on the address was keen and acrimonious. The 
address, however, was carried by a considerable majority; yet 
the increased strength of the Opposition indicated the waning 
influence of the administration of Sir Allan McNab. The min- 



432 



BISTORT OF C.iXADA. 



istrj soon found themselves in a minority on a question which 
excited a good deal of religions rancour in the House, and in 
the country. A man named Corrigan had been murdered near 
St. Sylvester, in Lower Canada. Several men were tried 
before Judge Duval, at Quebec, for the crime, and were 
acquitted in the face of what was by many considered very 
conclusive evidence of their guilt. The fact that the judge, 
jury, and accused, were all Eoman Catholics, while the mur- 
dered man was Protestant, together with the positive charac- 
ter of the evidence, created an impression in the minds of 
many Protestants of a miscarriage of justice. The Toronto 
" Globe," as a prominent champion of Protestantism, led the 
outburst of indignation, in which it was joined by the Orange 
party, a circumstance which, for the time, gi-eatly strengthened 
the Eeform ranks. 

Early in the session, Mr. John Hilyard Cameron, a leading 
member of the Orange fi-aternity, moved for a copy of the 
charge delivered to the jury by Judge Duval. It was an em- 
barrassing position in which the ministry was placed. If they 
submitted the judge's charge to review in the House, they 
"would alienate and oflend many French-Canadian supporters. 

If they refused, they must ex- 
pect to lose many Protestant 
votes. Under a constitutional 
plea, they refused to bring 
down the papers demanded, and 
were defeated by a majority of 
four. They did not, however, 
choose to consider this a vote of 
want of confidence, as on another 
division, the same night, they 
were sustained by a majority of 
the House. It was deemed, 
however, expedient to make a 
change in the _perso7ineJ of the ministry, and Sir Allan McXab, 
a man of solid, but not shining parts, was induced to resign 




SIK E. p. TACHE. 



TEE COALITION MINISTRY. 



433 




tlie premiership to Mr. Tache. * The real leadership, how- 
ever, was assumed by the Acting Attorney-General, Mr. John 
A. Macdonald, a rising politician of conspicuous ability and 
promise. 

Mr. Macdonald, who subsequently 
filled so prominent a position in 
Canadian politics, was born in Suther- 
landshire, Scotland, in 1815. His 
parents soon after removed to Canada, 
and settled in Kingston, Ontario. He 
entered upon the study of law in that 
city when only fifteen, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1836, in his 
twenty-first year. He first promi- 
nently attracted public notice in 1839, by his brilliant defence of 
Yon Schultz, the Polish exile, who was executed with nine 
others, American raiders, captured at the battle of Windmill 
Point. In 1844, he was elected to the representation of 
Kingston in the second parliament of the United Canadas, 
which city he has ever since continued to represent in the 
councils of his country. On the resignation of the Hincks 
administration, in 1854, he became a member of the coalition 
ministry by which it was succeeded, and was now recognized 
as the leader of the Conservative party of Upper Canada. 
With an eminent degree of administrative skill, he combined a 
large amount of political tact and sagacity. He is an able con- 



SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. 



* The name of Etienne Paschal Tach(S is one of the most distinguished in 
Canadian annals. He T^as born at St. Thomas, Lower Canada, in 1795, and 
■was the descendant of an old French family which had won an honourable 
record for public service. During the war of 1812-14, he served with distinc- 
tion in the field, and was promoted to a lieutenancy in the Canadian Chasseurs. 
After the war, he studied medicine, and attained success in that profession. 
He entered parliament in 1841, and joined the Baldwin-Lafontaine ministry in 
1848. He became, as we have seen, head of the Government in 1856. In 
1858, Her Majesty the Queen conferred upon him the honour of knighthood, — 
he being summoned to Windsor Castle to receive from her own hands that 
dignity. In 1860, he was appointed, together with Sir Allan McNab, an hon- 
ourary colonel of the British army, and aide-de-camp to the Queen. His 
further career will be hereafter described. 
65 



434 ' BISTORT OF CANADA. 

stitutional lawyer, and a remarkably skilful debater, rising, at 
times, to a noble and impassioned eloquence. He has been, 
during a long parliamentary career, a great party leader. 
Through his genial manners he exercises a remarkable personal , 
influence over those with whom he comes in contact, amount- 
ing, sometimes, almost to a fascination. 

Under this Conservative Government was passed a measure 
for which the Eeform party had long striven, and which their 
opponents had resolutely resisted. This was the Act making 
the Legislative Council an elective body. Existing members 
were allowed to retain their seats for life ; but twelve members 
were to be elected biennially, to hold office for the term of 
eight years. This system was relinquished under the Con- 
federation Act, but a strung feeling is entertained in favour of 
its restoration. Important measures of law reform were also 
enacted during this parliamentary session. 

This year a dreadful railway tragedy, the first of the kind 
which had ever happened in Canada, caused a thrill of horror 
throughout the country. On the 12th of ]\Iarch, a passenger 
train proceeding from Toronto to Hamilton, plunged through an 
open drawbridge in the Desjardins Canal. Seventy persons 
were killed, among them Mr. Zimmerman, a leading capitalist, 
and some of our most prominent citizens. 

The following year, June 26, a still more terrible disaster 
1857. occurred on the Lower St. Lawrence. The steamer 
"Montreal," with two hundred and fifty-eight Scottish emi- 
grants on board, took fire ©iDposite Cape Rouge, near Quebec, 
and burned to the water's edge. Two hundred and- fifty lives 
were lost by this tragedy. 

The continuance of the Chinese war, and the outbreak of the 
Sepoy mutiny, taxed to the utmost the force of Britain's arms, 
and called forth the intense sympathy of Her Majesty's Cana- 
dian subjects. The awful massacre of Cawnpore caused a 
feeling of horror throughout the Empire, followed by one of 
patriotic exultation on the heroic relief of Lucknow. The 
names of the veteran Outram, the gallant Campbell, the 
chivalric Lawrence, the saintly Havelock, were added to our 



THE COALITloy MINISTRT. 435 

country's bead-roll of immortal memories, to be to her sons an 
inspiration to patriotism, to piety, a:id to duty, forever. 

A comparative failure of the wheat crop, coincident with a 
depression in the English money market, and a commercial 
panic in the United States, together with the almost total ces- 
sation of railway construction, produced a financial crisis of 
great severity throughout Canada. This was aggravated by the 
over-importing and rash speculations in stocks and real estate 
which had been stimulated by the abundant expenditure of 
money in railway enterprises. "When the crisis came, many of 
the strongest mercantile houses fell before it. The inflated 
prices of stocks and real estate came tumbling down, and many 
who thought themselves rich for life were reduced to insolvency. 

The stagnation in trade caused a great falling off in the pub- 
lic revenue. The Government had to assume the payment of 
the interest on the railway advances and on the Municipal Loan 
Fund debt, amounting, respectively, to $800,000 and $400,000 
annually. The consequence was a deficit in the public balance- 
sheet for the year of $340,000. The rapid development of the 
natural resources of the country, and the elasticity of public 
credit, however, were such that, under the Divine blessing, 
prosperity soon returned to crown with gladness the industry 
of the merchant, the artisan, and the husbandman. 

The country had at length grown tired of the expense and 
inconvenience of the removal of the seat of government, every 
four years, from Quebec to Toronto, or vice versa. On account 
of local jealousies and sectional interests, however, the repre- 
sentatives of the two provinces could not agree upon any per- 
manent seat of government. Both Houses of parliament, 
therefore, passed resolutions during the session, requesting Her 
Majesty the Queen to finally settle the question, by the selec- 
tion of a site for the new capital. 

Towards the close of the year Mr. Tach6 resigned the pre- 
miership and was succeeded by Mr. Macdonald, who, however, 
as ministerial leader in the Assembly, had been the real head 
of the administration. The parliament was soon after dissolved, 
and at the ensuing general election each political party strove 



436 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



vigorously to obtain a parliamentary majority. In Upper 
Canada the Reformers had the preponderance, and Mr. Brown, 
the leader of the Opposition, was elected for both To^ronto 
and North Oxford. In Lower Canada the Kouges, or French 
Liberals, were decidedly in the minority. 

Since the union of the Canadas in 1840, successive ministries 
had succeeded, for the most part, in carrying their measures by 
a majority from each province, in accordance with what was 
known as the "double-majority" principle, adopted in order 
to prevent either secti®n of the country from forcing unpalata- 
ble legislation on the other. The Eeform preponderance in the 
western province compelled the ministry of Mr. John A. Mac- 
donald to abandon this *' double-majority " principle, if they 
would continue in office. The Government measures were 
therefore carried chiefly by a Lower-Canadian ministerial 
majority. This was felt by the Upper-Canadian Opj)osition to 
be all the more galling, because the wealth and population, and 
consequently the contributions to the public revenue, of the 
western province, had increased relatively much more than had 
these elements of prosperity in eastern Canada. This soon led 

to an outcry against what was 
designated as * ' French domina- 
tion ; " and the persistent advo- 
cacy of the principle of repre- 
sentation by population was 
adopted by the Reform leaders 
of Upper Canada. 

The most conspicuous and in- 
fluential advocate of this princi- 
ple was Mr. George Brown, the 
editor of the Toronto " Globe," 




a gentleman who, 



though 



sel- 



HON. GEOKGE BROWN. 



dom holding office, has largely 
contributed to the moulding of 
the institutions and political 
destiny of his adopted country. Mr. Brown, like many of the 
public men of Canada, was a native of Scotland , having been 



THE COALITION MINISTRY. 437 

born in the city of Edinburgh in 1821. When he was in his 
seventeenth year, the family emigrated to New York. Here his 
father, Mr. Peter Brown, a gentleman of superior abilities and 
cultivated literary tastes, entered into mercantile pursuits. He 
subsequently established a weekly journal, the *' British Chron- 
icle," in whose columns and in a volume of essays, he defended 
the honour of Great Britain against hostile American criticism. 

In 1843 the family removed to Toronto, and the following 
year Mr. George Brown became the publisher of the " Globe" 
newspaper, which, under his vigorous management, has become 
one of the most successful journalistic enterprises of Canada. 

Mr., Brown's first public employment was in 1849, when, as 
Government commissioner under the Baldwin-Lafontaine ad- 
ministration, he investigated the condition of the Provincial 
Penitentiary, and procured the rectification of its internal man- 
agement. In 1851 Mr. Brown was elected to the representa- 
tion of the county of Kent in the parliament of Canada ; and 
from that time to his retirement from active public life, subse- 
quent to the confederation of the British North American 
provinces, he occupied a conspicuous place and exerted a 
powerful influence in the councils of the country. As a speaker 
he was master of a robust and courageous eloquence. As a 
writer he cultivated strength rather than elegance of style. 
Through the medium of the journal under his control, he has 
contributed in no inconsiderable degree to mould the public 
opinion and influence the political destiny of Canada. 

Mr. Brown resembled, in something more than nationality, 
those active politicians, his fellow-countrymen, Eobert Gourlay 
and William Lyon Mackenzie. He possessed the same inde- 
fatigable energy, the same keenness in detecting and vigour 
in denouncing abuses, and the same tenacity of purpose, which 
enabled him to battle for years against formidable opposition 
for the achievement of cherished designs. He was, however, 
of superior intellectual ability to either of those sturdy pioneers 
in the rugged path of political reform. Unlike the impetuous 
and often reckless Mackenzie, he possessed the sound judgment 
which enabled him to confine his efforts within constitutional 



438 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

limits, and, more fortunate than either of them, he was per- 
mitted to witness, in the confederation of British power on this 
continent, the inauguration of an era of increased prosperity 
and progress of his country, to the attainment of which he had 
the happiness, in large degree, to contribute. 



REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 439 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

"EEPEESENTATION BY POPULATION." 

The New Parliament, 1858 — Thomas D'Axcy McGee — The Queen selects 
Ottawa as the Permanent Capital — The Opposition Disapprove her Choice 
— A False Move — The Ministry. Eesign, and Mr. Brown forms a Cabinet — 
He is Defeated, and Resigns after Two Days' Tenure of Office — Hon. A. T. 
Gait — The Cartier-Macdonald Ministry Formed — The " Double-Shufae " — 
Law Eeforms — Financial Prosperity, 1859 — Parliament Meets at Quebec, 
1860 —Visit of the Prince of Wales — Victoria Bridge — The Party Emjplems 
contretemjps — Outbreak of War of Secession, 1861 — Increase of Canadian 
Population — Eetirement of Sir Edmund Walker Head. 

THE general elections, after the dissolution of 1857, were 
held in midwinter, and the most strenuous efforts were 
made by the rival parties to gain a parliamentary ma- i858. 
jority. Earely has political excitement been so intense. Mr. 
Brown, as we have seen, enjoyed the triumph of a double re- 
turn, —for Toronto, and for the North Eiding of Oxford. His 
political allies in Lower Canada, largely on account of his 
intense Protestantism provoking the hostility of the Roman 
Catholic party in that province, were badly beaten at the polls. 
The new parliament met in Toronto, February 28. Among its 
many new members was Thomas D'Arcy McGee, a former 
enthusiastic Irish patriot, and partner in the seditious schemes 
of the insurrectionary leaders, Mitchel and Meagher, now 
returned as the loyal representative of West Montreal. The 
strength of parties was first measured in the choice of Speaker. 
The ministerial candidate was elected by seventy-nine against 
forty-two votes. The debate on the address was long and 
acrimonious. The Opposition, led by Mr. Brown, vigorously 
assailed the ministry, and strongly pressed the question of 
representation by population. It was, however, defeated by a 
vote of sixty-four to fifty-two. 

The question of the seat of government, we have seen, had 
been referred for final decision to Her Majesty the Queen. 



440 niSTORT OF CANADA. 

That decision was now given in favour of Ottawa. There was 
much to commend this choice. The position was remote from 
the American frontier. It was picturesquely situated on one of 
the great waterways of the country, which formed the dividing 
line between the two pi'ovinces. It also occupied an important 
strategic military position, and one of great strength and 
security in case of invasion. The disappointment, however, 
of several Canadian cities, which had aspired to the dignity of 
becoming the capital, caused considerable dissatisfaction in 
their respective neighbourhoods. Taking advantage of this 
feeling, the Opposition brought forward a resolution expressing 
deep regret at Her Majesty's choice, which was carried, on the 
28th of July, by a majority of fourteen. It was a false move, 
and placed the Opposition in apparent antagonism to the 
sovereign. The ministry, identifying their cause with hers, 
promptly resigned, and immediately won a large amount of 
public sympathy. 

Mr. Brown, as leader of the Opposition, was invited by the 
Governor-General to form a cabinet, and acceded to the 
request. The new ministry, although containing several gen- 
tlemen held in the highest esteem for ability and intelligence, * 
failed to command a majority of the House. Many of the 
members repented their rash vote against the Queen's decision, 
and, by a division of seventy-one to thirty-one, the ministry 
was defeated. Mr. Brown requested a dissolution of parlia- 
ment, in order that he might appeal to the country ; but this 
His Excellency declined to grant, alleging that the House, 
being newly elected, must reflect the popular will. The min- 
istry, therefore, resigned, after a tenure of office of only two 
days. The action of the Governor-General, however, gave 
serious umbrage to a large section of the Eeform party, and his 
subsequent course was subject to much adverse criticism. 

Sir Edmund Head now invited Mr. Alexander T. Gait to 



* Its members were : Messrs. George Brown, James Morris, Michael Foley, 
John Sandiield Macdonald, Oliver Mowat, and Dr. Conner, for Upper Canada; 
and, for Lower Canada, Messrs. Dorion, Drummond, Thibaudean, Lemieux, 
Holton, and Laberge. 



REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 



441 



form a ministry. This gentleman's eminent abilities, and dis- 
tinguished career as Finance Minister of Canada, demand a 
short sketch of his personal history. He was the son of John 
Gait, Esq., of Ayrshire, Scotland, the friend and biographer 
of Byron, and the author of many popular novels and other 
works. In 1826, Mr. Gait, senior, came to Canada as com- 
missioner of the Canada Land Company. He remained in the 
country three years, founded the town of Guelph, and from 
him the town of Gait takes its name. In 1833, his son Alex- 
ander entered, as a junior clerk, 
the service of the British Ameri- 
can Land Company, in the East- 
ern Townships, being then a 
youth in his sixteenth year. His 
business talents and fidelity led 
to his rapid promotion till he be- 
came chief commissioner of the 
company. Mr. Gait entered par- 
liament in 1849, and, with slight 
intervals, has ever since occupied 
a prominent position in public 
life. His personal integrity, 
financial ability, and moderation of character, commanded the 
respect and confidence of the House. But that very moderation 
rather disqualified him from becoming a party leader, and he 
declined the proffered honour. Mr. George E. Cartier was 
now invited to construct a cabinet. This, with the aid of Mr. 
John A. Macdonald, he succeeded in doing. * 

The new premier was a lineal descendant of the nephews of 
the illustrious discoverer of Canada, whose name he bears. 
He was bom in 1814, at St. Antoine, on the Chambly Eiver, 
that parish having been for generations the residence of the 
Cartier family. He was educated at the Sulpitian College at 
Montreal, and, in 1835, began the practice of law in that city. 




SIR A. T. GAXT. 



* It contained Messrs. John A. Macdonald, John Eoss, P. Vankoughnet, G. 
Sherwood, and Sidney Smith, for Upper Canada ; and Messrs. Cartier, Gait, 
Eose, Belleau, Sicotte, and Alleyn, for Lower Canada. 
56 



442 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 




SIR GEORGE E. CARTIER. 



He soon rose to eminence in his profession, and, in 1848, 
entered parliament as the member for Vercheres, his native 

county. In 1856, he became Pro- 
vincial Secretary in the McNab- 
Tache ministry, and, the same year, 
Attorney-General for Lower Canada 
in the Tache-Macdonald ministry. 
In November, 1857, he became the 
leader of the Lower-Canadian section 
of the Government, of which Mr. 
J. A. Macdonald was premier, — 
known as the Macdonald-Cartier 
ministry. The events of August, 
1858, caused a transposition of these 
names, and the formation of the Cartier-Macdonald ministry. 
Mr. Cartier was a man of indefatigable industry and energy. 
He was an admirable speaker in both French and English, a 
man of unimpeachable integrity, and a successful party leader, 
commanding the confidence of an immense majority of his 
French-Canadian fellow-countrymen. 

On the formation of the new ministry, a circumstance oc- 
curred which became the occasion of an outburst of condemna- 
tion from the Reform party. A clause in the Independence of 
Parliament Act provided that a minister resigning any office 
might, within a month, accept another without going back to 
his constituents for re-election. Several members of the late 
Macdonald administration who entered the new cabinet took 
advantage of this Act by a simple exchange of departmental 
office. This action was strenuously denounced by the Eeform 
press, under the designation of the *' double shuffle." It was, 
however, on an appeal to the courts, sustained by law ; but tlie 
obnoxious clause of the Act by which it was rendered valid was 
shortly after rescinded. 

Among the legislative measures of the session were acts 
raising the customs duty from twelve to fifteen per cent., in- 
troducing the decimal system of currency, and defining the 
privileges of the franchise. During the summer the pioneer 



REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 443 

Atlantic telegraph cable linked together in wondrous fellowship 
the Old World and the New ; but scarcely had the Queen's 
messao-e of conffratulation to the President of the United States 
flashed beneath the ocean's bed, when communication was inter- 
rupted, and the permanent union by the electric wire of the 
eastern and western continents was for some time longer post- 
l^oned. 

The loyalty of Canada to the British throne was evidenced 
by the enthusiasm with which her sons volunteered for enlist- 
ment in the Hundredth, or Prince of Wales Kegiment for the 
regular army. With the close of the year passed away one of 
Canada's purest patriots, the Honourable Kobert Baldwin, to 
whose memory the rival political parties of the country vied in 
paying respect. 

The legislation of the parliamentary session which opened on 
January 29, embraced several important acts. One of 1859. 
these referred to the consolidation of the statutes of Upper and 
Lower Canada, which was at length successfully completed, and 
proved of immense advantage to all interested in the transac- 
tion of legal business. In order to meet the continued deficit 
in the revenue, the general rate of customs duties was increased 
to twenty per cent. ; but manufacturers were increasingly 
favoured by the admission of raw staples free of duty. The 
seat of government question was finally set at rest by the 
authorization of the construction of parliament buildings of a 
magnificent character at the selected capital. A loyal address 
to Her Majesty was cordially voted, conveying a pressing invi- 
tation that the Queen or some member of the royal family 
should visit the country and formally open the Victoria Rail- 
way Bridge at Montreal, which was now approaching comple- 
tion. 

The announcement was made to pariiament by the Governor- 
General, that the project of a union of the British North Amer- 
ican provinces had been the subject of a correspondence with 
the Home Government. At a great Eeform gathering held in 
Toronto in November, resolutions were passed tending to the 
^ame result, and asserting the necessity for local self-govern- 



444 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

ment of the provinces, with a joint central authority for the 
management of common interests. 

As a result of the new tariff and of an abundant harvest, the 
revenue of the year was considerably in excess of the expendi- 
ture. Over two thousand miles of railway were now in opera- 
tion, and were rapidly developing the resources of the country. 
The public debt had increased to over fifty-four millions ; but 
the whole had been incurred in promoting internal improve- 
ment and none of it for that incubus of many other countries — 
the support of fleets or armies. 

In the neighbouring republic of the United States the ap- 
proach of the irrepressible conflict between the hostile forces 
of liberty and slavery was precipitated by the brave but futile 
invasion of Virginia by John Brown, for the liberation of the 
bondmen, and by his heroic death upon the scaffold. 

On the 28th of February, the Canadian legislature assembled 
I860. in Quebec, to which city it had for the last time re- 
moved. A despatch from the Colonial Secretary announced 
that Her Majesty, unable to leave the seat of the empire, would 
be represented at the opening of the Victoria Bridge by the 
Prince of Wales. A vote of $20,000 was therefore included 
in the estimates, to give a loyal reception to the heir-apparent 
to the throne. 

During this session Mr. Brown introduced two important 
resolutions, embodying the conclusions of the Toronto Keform 
convention of the previous year. The first declared ' ' That the 
existing legislative union of Upper and Lower Canada had failed 
to realize the anticipations of its promoters ; that it had resulted 
in a heavy debt, grave political abuses, and universal dissatis- 
faction ; and that from the antagonism developed through dif- 
ference of origin, local interest and other causes, the union in 
its present form could no longer be continued with advantage 
to the people." The second resolution asserted " That the true 
remedy for these evils would be found in the formation of two 
or more local governments, to which should be committed all 
matters of a sectional character, and the erection of some joint 
authority to dispose of the affairs common to all." 



REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 445 

These resolutions were rejected by the House — the first by 
a vote of sixty-seven to thirty-six ; the second by a vote of 
seventy-four to thirty-two ; but the principles which they ex- 
pressed, though scorned at the time, were destined to prevail, 
and to become incorporated in the present constitution of the 
Dominion. 

The ministry was sustained during the session by large 
majorities, and the House adjourned. May 19, to meet three 
months later, in order to give a fitting welcome to the Prince 
of Wales. 

Throughout the country the anticipated visit of the son of our 
beloved sovereign evoked the most loyal enthusiasm. Every 
town and village on his proposed route was decked in gala 
dress. On July 23, H. M. Ship " Hero," with an accompany- 
ing fleet of man-of-war vessels, bearing the Prince of Wales 
and suite, reached St. John's, Newfoundland, amid the thunder- 
ing of cannon and the loyal cheers of the people. 

The progress of the royal party was a continued ovation. 
After visiting Halifax, St. John, Fredericton, and Charlotte- 
town, they were welcomed to Canada by the Governor-General 
and a brilliant suite at Gaspe, August 14. On the 17th the 
royal fleet sailed up the gloomy gorge of the Saguenay, and 
the thunders of its cannon awoke the immemorial echoes of the 
lofty clifis of Capes Trinity and Eternity. The following day 
the Prince reached Quebec, and was profoundly impressed with 
the magnificent site of the many-ramparted and grand old his- 
toric city. After receiving a loyal address from both branches 
of the legislature, the royal progress was resumed. 

On the 25th of the month, amid the utmost pomp and 
pageantry, in the name of his august mother, the Prince of 
Wales drove the last rivet of the magnificent bridge that bears 
her name. Bestriding the rapid current of the St. Lawrence, 
here nearly two miles wide, on four and twenty massive piers 
— the centre span being three hundred and thirty feet wide 
and sixty feet above high- water mark — it is one of the grandest 
achievements of engineering skill in the world. It cost six and 
a half millions of dollars, and was designed and brought to 



446 



HISTORY OF C AX ADA. 



completion by a Canadian engineer, Thomas C. Keefer, and the 
world-renowned bridge builder, Eobert Stephenson. Illumina- 




tions and fireworks, turning night into day, and a grand carni- 
val of festivities, celebrated the joyous occasion. 



REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 447 

At Ottawa, on September the first, amid as imposing aud 
picturesque surroundings as any on the continent, was laid the 
corner-stone of the stately pile, worthy of the site, which was 
to be the home of the legislature of a great Dominion. An 
overland ride to Brockville, and a sail through the lovely 
scenery of the Thousand Islands, brought th6 royal party to 
Kmgston. Through an unfortunate contretemps, — the exhibi- 
tion of party emblems on an arch erected by the Orange 
society, — the inhabitants of both Kingston and Belleville were 
deprived of the pleasure of expressing their loyalty to their 
future sovereign. Toronto was surpassed by no city in British 
North America in the magnificence of its decorations, the 
enthusiasm of its demonstration, and the heartiness of its 
loyalty. The royal progress through the western peninsula 
was accompanied by no less cordial exhibitions of loyalty to 
the heir of the British crown. 

At Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore, Washington, New York, and Boston, the Prince of 
Wales received from a foreign nation a warmth of welcome 
which proved its uuforgotten chivalric regard toward the heir 
of a long line of English kings, and its admiration of his royal 
mother, — as woman, wife, and queen, the paragon of sover- 
eigns. On October 29, the royal party sailed from Portland, 
carrying recollections of the warmest hospitality alike from a 
foreign nation and from the sub- 
jects of the British crown, accom- 
panied, in the case of the latter, 
by proofs of the most devoted 
loyalty to the throne and person 
of the sovereign. 

During the absence of the Gover- 
nor-General from Canada on a visit 
to Great Britain, the government 
of the country was administered 

with eminent ability by Sir Wil- sir wm. fenwick williams. 
liam Fenwick Williams of Kars. The distinguished military 
career of that officer had reflected an unfading lustre upon his 




448 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

name and country. He was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1800. 
The son of the commissary-general and barrack-master, he early 
entered military life. He spent nine years in engineering ser- 
vice in Ceylon, and as many more in diplomatic engagements 
in Asiatic Turkey. During the Russian war he won his chief 
military laurels by his heroic defence of Kars, for over four 
months, against a much superior Russian force. Although 
victorious in a sanguinary eight hours' battle, he was compelled 
to surrender by famine rather than by the enemy. On his 
return to England, he entered parliament for the borough of 
Calne, and, in 1858, became Commander-in-Chief of the forces 
in British North America. 

Toward the close of the year the heart of the country was 
profoundly stirred, not by homage to a royal prince, but by 
sympathy for a fugitive slave. Seven years before, Robert 
Anderson, in making his escape from bondage in Missouri, had 
slain a man who sought to prevent his flight. After several 
years' residence in Canada, he was tracked by the slave-catcher, 
charged with murder, and his extradition demanded under the 
Ashburton treaty. Legal opinion was divided as to the validity 
of the demand. Intense popular interest was felt in the ques- 
tion, which found expression in enthusiastic public meetings 
of sympathy for the hunted fugitive. It was argued that in 
defending himself against recapture to bondage, and to con- 
dign punishment and probably a cruel death, he was exercising 
an inalienable human right. An appeal was made to the 
English Court of Queen's Bench ; but while the appeal was 
pending, Anderson was set free by a Canadian court on the 
ground of informality in his committal. 

In the United States the war clouds were lowering which 
were soon to deluge the country with blood. The domination 
of the slave-power at length provoked the firm resistance of the 
North. Abraham Lincoln was elected as the tribune of the 
friends of liberty. The haughty South refused to bow to this 
expression of the popular will. First South Carolina, then 
other States, seceded from the Union and organized a confed- 
eracy based on human slavery. With the close of the year a 



REPRESENTATION BY POPULATION. 449 

federal force was besieged in Fort Sumter, guarding Charleston 
harbour. 

The first shot fired on the flag of the Eepublic reverberated 
through the nation. North and South rushed to arms. isei. 
A royal proclamation, issued May 13, enjoined strict neutrality 
on all British subjects, and recognized the belligerent rights of 
the South. Such, however, was Canada's sympathy with the 
North in this war for human freedom, — for such it ultimately 
proved to be, —that before its close fifty thousand of her sons 
enlisted in the Northern armies, and many lost their lives for 
what they felt to be a sacred cause, while comparatively few 
entered the armies of the South. 

At the battle of Bull Run, on the 21st of July, were opened 
the sluices of the deep torrent of blood shed in this fratricidal 
war. For four long years of the nation's agony, that gory tide 
ebbed and flowed over those fiiir and fertile regions stretching 
from the valley of the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico, from 
the Atlantic to the Mississippi ; carrying sorrow and death into 
almost every hamlet in the Union, and into many a Canadian 
home ; costing a million of lives and millions of treasure ; but, 
let us thank God ! emancipating forever four millions of slaves. 

• The Canadian parliament assembled in Quebec on the 16th 
of March. The speech from the throne conveyed the acknowl- 
edgment of the Queen's high appreciation of the loyal recep- 
tion of the Prince of Wales. It referred also to the fact that 
a writ of the English Court of Queen's Bench had been issued 
in Canada, and urged the propriety of preventing by suitable 

'legislation any conflicting jurisdiction. The debate on the 
address lasted for six days, and was the occasion of a good 
deal of recrimination. The Orangemen, the Freemasons, and 
some of the leading religious bodies had all grievances to com- 
plain of, in the form of real or imagined slights during the visit 
of the Prince of Wales. A motion of Mr. John Sandfield 
Macdonald's, urging the adoption, by the ministry, of the 
double-majority principle, was lost by a vote of sixty-four to 
forty-six, and a direct motion of want of confidence in the 
Government was lest on division, by sixty-two to forty-nine. 
57 



450 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The returns o. the census taken at the close of the previous 
year revealed a rapid increase in the population of the country. 
In 1841, that of Upper Canada was 465,375 ; in 1851, it was 
952,061; in 1861, it had reached 1,396,091. The population 
of Lower Canada, in 1841, was 690,782; in 1851, 890,261; 
and, in 1861, 1,110,444. The population of the two Canadas, 
it will be seen, amounted, in 1861, to 2,506,755. The rate of 
increase in the Upper province had been so much greater than 
that of Lower Canada, that it now had an excess of 285,427 
over the population of the latter, yet it had only the same par- 
liamentary representation. This practical injustice lent new 
energy to the Upper-Canadian agitation for representation by 
population. The feeling of jealousy between the two sections 
of the province led to extravagance of expenditure. Although 
Upper Canada contributed the larger part of the public reve- 
nue, the lower province claimed an equal share from the com- 
mon treasury. Thus many unremunerative public works were 
constructed in one province as an offset to an expenditure for 
necessary constructions in the other. 

Parliament adjourned on the 1st of May, and was soon 
afterwards dissolved. The general election which followed 
resulted in a considerable gain to the Opposition, especially in 
Upper Canada. Mr. Cartier, however, won a signal victory 
by defeating Mr. Dorion, the liberal leader, in Montreal East. 
Mr. Brown was also defeated in Toronto. 

During this year, — on the 28th of August,^ — the restless 
career of William Lyon Mackenzie came to a close. He had, 
to a considerable degree, fallen out of view of a generation 
familiar only by report with the stirring, but ill-guided events 
in which he bore so prominent a part. 

In the nionth of October, Sir Edmund Walker Head ceased 
to be Governor-General of Canada, and returned to Great 
Britain. With a considerable section of the community his 
popularity had greatly waned, on account of his alleged sym- 
pathy with one of the political parties of the country, — an 
allegation which, if true, was probably more his misfortune 
than his fault. 



POLITICAL CRISIS. 451 



CHAPTER XXXVn. 

POLITICAL CRISIS. 

Lord Monck, Governor-General, 1861 — The " Trent" Affair — Threatened Out- 
break of "War — Surrender of Slidell and Mason — The Cartier-Macdonald 
Ministry Defeated on Militia Bill, 1862 — The Macdonald-Sicotte Cabinet 
Formed — Its Policy — Commercial Prosperity consequent on American War 
— The Cotton Famine — Canada at the World's Fair — Defeat of the Minis- 
try — It Appeals to the Country, 1863 — Eeconstruction of the Cabinet — 
Political Dead-lock. 

IT is a curious .coincidence that two men evidently of Nor- 
man origin, and one might say, of the same name, should 
at an interval of two centuries, hold positions of high command 
in Canada, one the representative of the old French regime, the 
other the representative of British rule. In the middle of the 
seventeenth century, Charles Le Moyne, afterwards Baron of 
Longueuil, was appointed by Louis XIV. King's Lieutenant in 
New France. Two centuries later, a descendant of Guillaume 
Le Moyne, a contemporary of William of Normandy, conqueror 
of England, became the representative in Canada of the authority 
of Queen Victoria. Charles Stanley Monck, fourth Viscount 
of that name, was born at Templemore, in the county of Tip- 
perary, in 1818. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, 
and called to the Irish bar in 1841. He represented for some 
years the English constituency of Portsmouth in the Imperial 
parliament, and was a Lord of the Treasury under the Palmer- 
ston administration. He was sworn into office on the 24th of 
October, 1861, and soon had to face a grave international diffi- 
culty, in which Great Britain became involved with the United 
States. 

On the 9th of November, Captain Wilkes, of the U. S. steam- 
ship ' ' Jacinto," forcibly carried off from the British mail-steamer 
*' Trent," Messrs. Slidell and Mason, commissioners of the 
Southern Confederacy to Great Britain and France. The 



452 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

British Government promptly resented this violation of inter- 
national comity and of the rights of neutrals, and demanded 
the rendition of the captured commissioners. The foolish 
boasting and defiance of a large portion of the American press 
of the North greatly estranged public sympathy from their 
cause, both in Canada and Great Britain, or diverted it toward 
the Southern Confederacy, and rendered an outbreak of hostili- 
ties imminent. 

While awaiting an answer to the ultimatum sent to the United 
States, the British Government shipped to Canada several regi- 
ments of troops, the flower of the army, including the Grena- 
dier and Fusilier Guards and the Prince Consort's Rifle 
Brigade, with immense stores of munitions of war. The navi- 
gation of the St. Lawrence having closed, a portion of the 
troops came overland through New Brunswick. The country 
sprang to arms. Yolunteer military companies were organ- 
ized, home guards enrolled, and large sums of money con- 
tributed to defend, if need were, the honour and dignity of the 
empire. 

Amid these public agitations came the startling intelligence 
of the death of Prince Albert, the wise and noble consort of 
our beloved and honoured Queen, December 15. The nation's 
sympathy with the widowed sovereign was j)rofound and sin- 
cere. A prudent counsellor, a loving husband, a high-minded 
man, the Queen, after seventewi years of widowhood, con- 
tinues to mourn his loss with almost the poignancy of her first 
grief. 

With the close of the year, the war-cloud which menaced the 
country was dissipated, by the surrender of Messrs. Slidell 
and Mason, the captured commissioners, to the British Govern- 
ment.. 

The new parliament met in Quebec on the 21st of March. 
1862. The general election had considerably increased the 
strength of the Opposition, notwithstanding its losses in 
Toronto and Montreal. The conflict of parties was renewed 
with the utmost vigour. In the debate on the address the 
ministry were sustained by a majority of seventeen. A sub- 



POLITICAL CRISIS. 453 

Ject of much importance was referred to in the Governor's 
speech, on which, however, it was soon to be defeated. The 
defence of the provinces against the growing military power of 
the United States, was a subject of considerable difficulty. The 
Imperial authorities, feeling that in case of the rupture of peace 
Canada would become the battle-ground, had devised a com- 
prehensive system of fortification. The cost of the extensive 
works at Quebec was to be defrayed by the Home Government, 
and that of the works at Montreal and places west of it was to 
be paid from the provincial treasury. The people of Canada, 
while willing to make any efibrt for national defence that they 
thought commensurate with their ability, shrank from largely 
increasing their heavy indebtedness by undertaking military 
works which they considered too extensive and costly for their 
means, and of the necessity for which they were by no means 
convinced. The volunteer movement was vigorously sustained, 
and rifle competitions contributed to the efficiency of the corps ; 
but the feeling of the country in opposition to the fortification 
scheme found expression in an adverse vote of the House on 
the ministerial militia bill, on the 30th of May. 

The bill was defeated by a vote of sixty-one to fifty-four. 
The ministry forthwith resigned, and Mr. John Sandfield Mac- 
donald was called upon to form a new cabinet.* Mr. Mac- 
do nald, with whom was associated as leader of the Lower-Can- 
adian section of the new ministerial party Mr. Sicotte, announced 
as the policy of his administration the observance of the double- 
majority principle in all measures afiecting locally either prov- 
ince ; a re-adjustment of the representation of Upper and Lower 
Canada, respectively, without, however, adopting the principle 
of representation by j)opulation ; and an increase of revenue 
and f)rotection of manufactures by a revised customs tariff. 
He also promised retrenchment of public expenditure, vigorous 
departmental reforms, and an amended militia bill instead of 
the one by which the late Government had fallen. This com- 

* The new ministry was composed of Messrs. John Sandfield Macdonald, 
Wilson, Foley, Morris, Macdougall, and Howland, for Upper Canada ; and for 
Lower Canada, Messrs. Sicotte, Ahhott, McGee, Dorion, Tessier, and Evanturel. 



454 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

prebensive programme to a large degree was received with pub- 
lic favour, but the failure to assert the principle of representa- 
tion by population in the re-adjustment of seats, was vigorously 
denounced by the Toronto " Globe." 

The parliamentary rejection of the Macdonald-Cartier militia 
bill created an impression in Great Britain that the Canadians 
were unwilling to bear the burden of self-defence — an errone- 
ous conception, which the military enthusiasm of the country 
during the late '* Trent" difficulty ought to have prevented. 
The thorough loyalty of the people was shown by the liberal 
militia bill of the following session. 

The continuance of the American war was attended with 
great commercial advantage to Canada. The prolonged hos- 
tilities greatly decreased the productive industry of the United 
States, and created an immense drain upon the national 
resources. Canadian horses were in especial demand for 
remounts for the Union cavalry and artillery. The country 
was also denuded of its surplus live-stock and farm-produce, 
and, in fact, of every marketable commodity, at highly remun- 
erative prices. The resulting financial prosperity, in which 
all industrial classes shared, enabled the people to discharge 
the indebtedness which many had incurred through rash specu- 
lation or lavish expenditure. It was observed that " the pros- 
perous years which now followed were distinguished by an 
unusually small amount of litigation, while money-lenders no 
longer reaped the abundant harvest they had hitherto enjoyed. 
This gratifying condition of afiairs," it was further remarked, 
" tended also to a diminution of crime, the volume of which, 
however, had always been very limited in the country. The 
war had already absorbed the more unquiet spirits of the 
population, and the ample employment and high wages which 
prevailed led, in addition, to light calendars in the courts of 
justice." 

In their prosperity Canadians did not forget the adversity of 
their suffering fellow-subjects in Great Britain, who were 
enduring extreme privation from the cotton-famine, consequent 
on the closure of the ports of the Southern Confederacy, from 



POLITICAL CRISIS. 455 

which the raw staple of their industry was derived. Generous 
contributions for the relief of their necessities exhibited at 
once the patriotism and philanthropy of the donors. 

Canada also achieved distinction by the very creditable 
exhibition of her raw material and manufactured products at 
the World's Fair at London, where she carried off, from all 
competitors, numerous prizes. Attention was also conspicu- 
ously drawn to the country as a profitable field for investments, 
and for emigration, and to its vast resources. 

Parliament met in Quebec early in February, and the agita- 
tion for the increased representation of Upper Canada ises. 
was renewed. Mr. Matthew Crooks Cameron moved an 
amendment to the address in reply to the speech from the 
throne, in favour of direct representation by population ; and 
Mr. John Hillyard Cameron moved a resolution in favour of 
giving an increased representation to Upper Canada with the 
existing number of members of parliament. Both of these 
propositions were defeated by the solid Lower-Canadian vote ; 
but public opinion in Upper Canada was daily becoming 
stronger in favour of a more equitable adjustment of the rep- 
resentation. The ministry was evidently losing popularity, 
and a large deficit in the revenue, notwithstanding increased 
taxation, still further undermined their position. 

At length. May 1st, Mr. John A. Macdonald moved a direct 
vote of want of confidence, and, after a spirited debate of four 
days, the Government was defeated by a vote of sixty-four to 
fifty-nine. They resolved to appeal to the country, and, on 
the 12th of May, the House was prorogued, and shortly after 
dissolved. 

In order to propitiate the dissatisfied section of the Reform 
party, and to win a larger support, Mr. Macdonald recon- 
structed his cabinet, by the substitution of seven new mem- 
bers * of supposed greater popularity, in place of eight who 

* Messrs. Blair, Mowat, Holton, Laframboise, Thibaudeau, St. Just and Hun- 
tington. Of Ilia former colleaguea he retained only three, — Messrs. Dorion, 
fiowland, and Macdougall. 



456 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 




were superseded. This cabinet is known as the Macdonald- 
Dorion ministry.* 

This course was assailed as unconstitutional, inasmuch as the 

Government was essentially a dif- 
ferent one from that in whose 
favour the dissolution had been 
granted. It therefore brought 
him little accession of strength, 
and converted into opponents 
some of his former supporters. 

The parliament re-assembled 
after the election, on the 13th of 
"I^M^M^ "VEMB^^ August. The debate on the ad- 
dress dragged its slow length 
along for fourteen days. The 
ministry had to meet the recrimi- 
nations of its former members, Messrs. Foley, Sicotte, and 
McGee. On the vote being taken, it was found that the 
ministers had a majority of only three. The budget for the 
year, as submitted by Mr. Howland, Finance Minister, was not 
very encouraging. The public debt had grown to seventy 
million dollars, with a deficit, since 1857, of twelve millions. 
The annual interest amounted to five and a half million dollars. 
The estimates for the year were very heavy, amounting to 
$15,119,200, — of which $4,294,000 was for the redemption of 
seigneurial-tenure bonds. An additional revenue of two mill- 
ion dollars was required to meet the annual expenditure. The 
heavy financial burdens imposed upon the country under the 
Hincks administration, with subsequent increments by each 



HON. ANTOINE A. DORION. 



* The Hon. Antoine Aime Dorion, Q. C, belongs to a family which have given 
several members to the iiublic service of their country. His father and grand' 
father were both members of the Lower-Canadian Assembly. One brother 
was a member of the Assembly of the united Canadas, and another, subse- 
quently, of the House of Commons of the Dominion. During the whole of his 
political life, Antoine Aime Dorion has been a recognized leader of the Lower- 
Canadian Liberal party. He was three times a member of the Executive 
Council of Canada. He subsequently, 1873, became Minister of Justice in the 
Dominion Cabinet, and became Chief Justice of Lower Canada in 1874. 



POLITICAL CRISIS. 457 

successive Government, were bringing its fiscal afiairs into 
great difficulty. The position of the ministry had become 
critical. It managed to get through the session, however, 
without defeat. 

The political outlook was not very re-assuring. Much irrita- 
tion was felt in the United States toward Great Britain, on 
account of the devastation caused by the "Alabama," and 
"Florida," and other Confederate cruisers. These piratical 
vessels, as the people of the North regarded them, constructed 
by British ship-builders, and equipped by British merchants, 
had captured and destroyed hundreds of American ships, and 
had almost swept American commerce from the seas. 

The Union armies, however, by sheer force of numbers, and 
an unlimited supply of war materiel, were steadily crushing 
out the Southern rebellion, notwithstanding an heroic resistance 
worthy of a better cause. 

A gleam of sunshine was thrown over the somewhat sombre 
condition of public affairs during the year, by the marriage of 
the Prince of Wales with the lovely and amiable Alexandra, 
Princess of Denmark, which had taken place on the 19th of 
March. The recent visit of the Prince gave an enhanced 
interest throughout Canada in the auspicious event. The loyal 
congratulations of the empire found admirable expression in 
the noble ode of the lam-eate written upon the occasion. 

58 



458 BISTORT OF CANADA. 



CHAPTEE XXXVm. 

THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 

The Macdonald-Dorion Ministry Eesign — The Tach6-Maedonalcl Ministry 
Formed and Defeated — A Dead-lock Ensues — A Coalition Ministry Formed 
to Bring about the Confederation of the ProYinces — Southern Eefugees in 
Canada Seize American Steamers on Lake Erie, and Plunder Banks at St. 
Albans — Canadian Government Guards Frontier — The Growth of Con- 
federation Sentiment — Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences — The Cana- 
dian Parliament Adopts the Confederation Scheme — Anti-Confederation 
Movement in the Maritime Provinces — Close of the American War — 
Slavery Abolished — Assassination of President Lincoln — Canadian Sym- 
l^athy — Death of Sir E. P. Tach6 and Lord Palmerston — The Seat of 
Government Eemoved to Ottawa. 

THE affairs of the country were fast approaching a crisis. 
A political dead-lock was imminent. During the recess, 
the ministry still further lost ground. Mr. Macdougall, a 
member of the Cabinet, openly renounced the principle of 
representation by population as impracticable, and evoked the 
bitter opposition of Mr. Brown and his influential organ, the 
" Globe." The ministry received a severe blow in the defeat 
of Mr. Albert N. Eichards, who had been assigned the vacant 
office of Solicitor-General. On his appeal to his constituents 
for re-election, his previous majority of one hundred and thirty- 
five was converted into a minority of seventy-five. 

On the meeting of Parliament at Quebec, February 19, 
1864. speculation was rife as to what course ministers would 
pursue. The debate on the address passed without the proposi- 
tion of any amendment by the Opposition, but the ministry 
found themselves without a working majority, and soon resigned 
their portfolios. 

Mr. Blair, the Provincial Secretary of the late administra- 
tion, was requested to construct a new cabinet, but failed in the 



THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 459 

attempt. Sir E. P. Tach6 now essayed the difficult task, with 
better success.* The programme of the new administration 
promised a vigorous militia policy, a commercial union witlj the 
maritime provinces, and an earnest effort to maintain reciprocity 
with the United States, which that country had threatened to 
abrogate. The vexed question of representation remained 
unsettled, the fruitful source of future difficulty. The new 
ministry, soon after its organization, only escaped defeat on a 
direct vote of want of confidence, by a majority of two. After 
a month's struggle for existence, it succumbed to a hostile vote 
of sixty to fifty-eight. 

The anticipated dead-lock had now arrived. Parties were so 
equally balanced that neither could carry on the government of 
the country against the opposition of the other. Every consti- 
tutional method of solving the difficulty had been exhausted. 
Dissolution of parliament and change of ministry brought no 
relief. The application of the double-majority principle was 
found impracticable, and representation by population under 
existing conditions was unattainable. The solution of the diffi- 
culty that appeared most feasible was the long-contemplated 
plan of a union of the North American provinces, with a central 
"joint authority " and local self-government. 

On the 14th of June, the very day of the defeat of the 
ministry, a select committee, of which Mr. Brown was chair- 
man, reported in favour of a "federation system, applied 
either to Canada alone, or to the whole British North American 
provinces." Immediately after the defeat of the Goveriiment, 
Mr. Brown spoke to several supporters of the Administration, 
strongly urging that the present crisis should be utilized in 
settling forever the constitutional difficulties between Upper and 
Lower Canada, and also assuring them that he was prepared to 
co-operate with the existing, or any other administration, that 

* It embraced the following members : — Sir E. P. Tacb^, and Messrs. Car- 
tier, Gait, Chapais, McGee, and Langevin, for Lower Canada ; and for Upper 
Canada, Messrs. Jolin A. Macdonald, Campbell, Bucbanan, Foley, Simpson, and 
Cockburn. 



460 ' HISTORY OF CANADA. 

would deal with the question promptly and fully, with a view to 
its final settlement.* 

This proffer led to an interview between Mr. Brown and 
Messrs. Macdonald and Gait. These gentlemen agreed that 
nothing but the extreme urgency of the crisis and the hope of 
settling the sectional troubles of the province forever, could 
justify their combining for common political action. With a 
view to the accomplishment of this object, after prolonged 
negotiation and consultation of political supporters on both 
sides, Mr. Brown entered the cabinet as President of the 
Council, and associated with him, as representatives of the 
Eeform party, Mr. William Macdougall as Provincial Secretary, 
and Mr. Oliver Mowat as Postmaster-General. This coalition 
was very generally received with extreme satisfaction, as a de- 
liverance from the bitter strife of parties which had so long 
distracted the country. 

Contemporary events now demonstrated the necessity for a 
strong Government. The continued successes of the Northern 
armies in the fratricidal conflict in the United States, made 
Canada the asylum of many Southern refugees. Disregarding 
the sacred rights of hospitality, these refugees organized suc- 
cessive raids upon the Northern States from the territory which 
gave them shelter — careless whether they embroiled a neutral 
country in war with her powerful neighbour, or probably 
anxious to bring about a collision between the North and Great 
Britain. 

In the month of September, a gang of Southern desperadoes 
seized two American steamers on Lake Erie, with the design of 
releasing the Confederate prisoners on Johnson's Island, and of 
destroying the shipping on the lake. The attempt was in- 
effectual ; but a more successful hostile effort was made on the 
Lower-Canadian frontier about a month later. A body of 
twenty-three refugees attacked the banks of St. Albans, in 
Vermont, and hastily retreated across the border with $233,000 

* This paragraph, -with several of the statements which follow, are taken 
verbatim from the memorandum read to the House on the 23d of June, explain- 
ing the negotiations which led to the formation of the Coalition Ministry. 



THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 461 

of ill-gotten booty, having added the crime of murder to that 
of robbery. Fourteen of the raiders were arrested, but were 
subsequently discharged by Judge Coursel, of Montreal. The 
illegal surrender to them of $90,000 of the stolen money — 
which the Canadian Government had subsequently to repay — 
and the growing sympathy for the South of a portion of the 
Canadian press and people, embittered the relations between the 
two countries, and contributed largely to the abrogation of the 
reciprocity treaty, which soon took place. To prevent a repeti- 
tion of these raids, the Canadian Government distributed a 
patrol force ..of thirty volunteer companies along the more 
exposed points of the frontier. An ' ' Alien Act " was also 
passed, enabling the Executive summarily to arrest suspicious 
characters. 

Meanwhile the subject of colonial confederation was attract- 
ing increased attention in the British North American provinces. 
As we have previously seen in this history, at different periods 
various schemes, more or less comprehensive, had been pro- 
posed as a solution of the governmental difficulties from which 
they were suffering, and as the best measure of national defence. 
The removal of the commercial restrictions, caused by the 
isolating, and often mutually hostile, tariffs of the provinces, 
and the establishment of intercolonial free trade, it was felt 
would greatly develo]D their material prosperity. 

As early as 1808, Mr. Kichard J. Uniacke had introduced 
the question of a union of the British provinces into the legis- 
ture of Nova Scotia, but public sentiment was not ripe for its 
adoption. In 1814, Chief Justice Sewell, of Quebec, proposed 
a similar scheme to Lord Bathurst, as a means of solving the 
governmental difficulty in that province. In 182^, Mr. John 
Beverly Eobinson, Attorney-General of Upper Canada, at the 
request of the Colonial Office, drew up a plan for the confeder- 
ation of British North America. It was, however, superseded 
by the union of the Canadas, a measure to effect which was 
introduced into the Imperial parliament that same year. The 
scheme had also been a prominent feature in the report of Lord 
Durham in 1839. In 1854, Mr. Johnson introduced the ques- 



462 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

tion into the Assembly of Nova Scotia, but it was strongly 
opposed by Mr. Howe, who favoured rather colonial representa- 
tion in the Imperial parliament. In 1857, Messrs. Johnson 
and Archibald proceeded to England, as delegates from the 
Nova Scotia legislature, to confer with the Colonial Secretary 
upon the subject. The Home authorities, while offering no 
®bstacles, considered the question one to be chiefly settled by 
the provinces themselves. The same year, Mr. A. T. Gait, in 
an able and eloquent speech in the Canadian parliament, set 
forth the advantages of confederation, as an antidote to sectional 
strife, a solvent of political difficulties, and a stimulus to in- 
creased prosperity. The following year, Messrs. Cartier, Rose, 
and Gait, Canadian delegates in England on the subject of the 
Intercolonial Railway, urged upon the Colonial Secretary, the 
Hon. Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, the confederation of the provinces, 
as a means of allaying their mutual jealousies, promoting their 
prosperity, and strengthening the power of the empire ; and 
requested authority from the Imperial Government to have a 
conference of j^elegates from the several provinces to discuss 
the scheme. The Colonial Secretary, although not objecting to 
the proposed conference, desired a more definite expression of 
public opinion on the subject. The idea continued to leaven 
more and more the public mind. It was discussed in papers, 
pamphlets, and speeches. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 
Dr. Tupper advocated the scheme in several able lectures. 

During the progress of the American war, the growth of 
opinion in favour of colonial unification as a means of con- 
solidating the strength of the provinces in the not impossible 
contingency of war with the United States was rapid, both in • 
Great Britain and in the colonies. The maritime provinces 
had already been discussing the project of a legislative union 
among themselves, — the difficulties in the way of a more com- 
prehensive federation being thought at the time insuperable. 
Delegates were accordingly appointed by the Governments of 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, to 
meet for the discussion of the subject at Charlottetown, in the 
latter province, on the 1st of September, 1864. The Canadian 



TEE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT, 463 

coalition Government intimated, through the Governor-General, 
a wish to be represented at that conference. It was cordially- 
invited to send delegates. It did so. * After the Canadian 
delegates had expressed their views, the larger scheme seems 
to have entirely swallowed the narrower one. The conference 
adjourned with the understanding that delegates from all the 
provinces should meet at Quebec on the 10th of October. The 
Canadian delegates made, by invitation, a visit to Halifax, St. 
John, and Fredericton, and were everywhere received with 
banquets, balls, and hospitable entertainments, which gave a 
social imj)ulse to the projected union. 

On the 10th of October, the Quebec conference began its 
sessions in a chamber of the parliament buildings in the old 
historic capital. Thirty-three delegates were present, of all 
shades of political opinion, from the several provinces, f Sir 
E. P. Tach6, Premier of Canada, was chosen President. The 
occasion was one of august and imposing interest. The Hon. 
John Hamilton Gray, in his admirable History of Confedera- 
tion, X thus describes the scene : — 

" The time, the men, the circumstances, were peculiar. The 
place of meeting was one of historic interest. Beneath the 
shadow of Cape Diamond, on the ruins of the old castle of St. 
Louis, with the broad St. Lawrence stretching away in front, 
the Plains of Abraham in sight, and the St. Charles winding 
its silvery course through scenes replete with the memories of 

* The delegates -svere: Messrs. John A. Macdonald, George Brown, George E. 
Cartier, Alexander T. Gait, T. D'Arcy McGee, H. L. Langevin, William Mac- 
dougall, and Alexander Campbell. 

+ The number of delegates from the several provinces, and their names, were 
38 follows : — 

Cajstada, 12. Hon. Messrs. Tachd, J. A. Macdonald, Cartier, Brown, Gait, 
Campbell, Macdougall, McGee, Langevin, Cockburn, Mowat, and Chapais. 

New Brunswick, 7. Hon. Messrs. TUley, Johnson, Chandler, Gray, Mitchell, 
Fisher, and Stevens. 

Prixck Edward Island, 7. Hon. Messrs. Gray, Palmer, Pope, Coles, A. A. 
Macdonald, Haviland, and Whelan. 

Nova Scotia, 5. Hon. Messrs. Tapper, Kenny, Dictey, Archibald, and Mc- 
Cully. 

Newfoundland, 2. Hon. Messrs. Carter, and Shea. 

X Vol. I., pp. 51, 52. 



464 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

old France, where scarce a century gone the Fleur de Lys and 
the Cross of St. George had waved m deadly strife, now stood 
the descendants of those gallant races, the Saxon and the Gaul, 
hand in hand, with a common country and a common cause. 
Met with the full sanction of their sovereign and the Imperial 
Government, attended by the representatives and ministers of 
the crown, sent from the parliaments chosen by the people, 
they were called upon to lay in peace the foundations of a state 
that was to take its place beside that Republic which, wrenched 
from the parent-land in strife, had laid the foundations of its 
greatness with the sword, and baptized its power in blood." 

The deliberations continued for seventeen days. Many con- 
flicting interests had to be harmonized, and many local difficul- 
ties removed. At length a general plan was agreed upon, and 
resolutions adopted as the basis of an Act of Confederation. 
These resolutions were to be submitted to the different legisla- 
tures for adoption, without alteration of form; but the scheme 
was not to be published till the time for legislative action 
should arrive. 

At the close of the conference, its delegates were feted with 
public banquets at Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and 
elsewhere. Throughout Canada an outburst of loyal enthusiasm 
hailed the prospect of the unification of the scattered provinces 
into a new nation. The universities, the boards of trade, pub- 
lic officials, merchant princes, and the learned professions, vied in 
paying honour to the delegates, and in the utterance of patriotic 
sentiments. Political feuds, for the time, were buried, the 
strifes of parties were forgotten, and the ennobling and elevat- 
ing influence of an enlarged national sentiment was felt 
throughout the entire community. 

The conference had sat with closed doors for the purpose of 
facihtating freedom of discussion and deliberation on the mani- 
fold interests brought under review. The general outline of 
the scheme, however, was gradually divulged, and soon became 
widely known. It was for the most part received with very 
gifeat favour. It was regarded as the germ of a new and 
vigorous national life. The bonds of a common allegiance to 



TEE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT 465 

the sovereign, and of common sympathies and interests, were 
recognized. The restraints of local impediments upon free 
intercolonial trade were felt to be increasingly irksome. The 
differences of productions and industries of the several prov- 
inces made their union seem all the more necessary for the 
greater prosperity of all. The wheat-fields and lumber inter- 
ests of Canada needed, and were needed by, the fisheries and 
mines and shipping of the maritime provinces. The magnifi- 
cent water-ways of the West furnished unrivalled facilities for 
commercial relations with the East ; but the lack of a winter 
seaport made an intercolonial railway, and the harbours of St. 
John and Halifax, necessary to the development of Canadian 
trade. 

A federal central government also promised to lift politics 
from the level of a jealous conflict between parties into that of 
a patriotic ambition for the prosperity of the whole country, 
and for the development of a vigorous national life ; and the 
local legislatures offered a guarantee of the self-control of the 
domestic affairs of each province. The long-continued demand 
of Upper Canada for representation by population would be 
granted in the constitution of the central parliament ; and the 
.jealousy of the French population of Lower Canada for their 
religion, language, and laws, would be appeased by their 
numerical representation in their local legislature. 

The approval of the Home Government of the general plan 
of confederation, while it criticised some of its details, was 
unequivocally expressed. * The press of Great Britain, as 
well as that of Canada, and the more liberal journals and 
statesmen f of the United States, joined in a generous chorus 
of congratulation. 

* Despatcli of the Colonial Secretary to Lord Monck, Dec. 3, 1864. 

t Mr. Seward paid a noble tribute to tbe nascent nationality. " I see in. 
British North America," he said, " stretching as it does across the continent, a 
region grand enough for the seat of a great empire. . . The policy of the 
United States is to propitiate and secure the alliance of Canada. But the 
policy which the United States actually pursues is the infataated one of reject- 
ing and spurning vigorous, perennial, and ever-growing Canada, while seeking 
to establish feeble States out of decaying Spanish provinces on the coast and 
59 



466 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Nevertheless, considerable opposition was at first manifested 
towards the scheme, especially in the maritime provinces. The 
preponderant influence of the more populous provinces was 
feared, and several of the numerous details of the Quebec 
scheme, which was presented for acceptance without modifica- 
tion, were regarded with strong objection. Thus an anti-confed- 
erate agitation arose, and was long and vehemently maintained, 
in the press, on the platform, and at the polls. 

On the 3d of February the Canadian parliament met at 
1865. Quebec. The resolutions on confederation, which had 
been adopted by the Quebec conference of the previous year, 
were submitted by Sir E. P. Tach6 in the Legislative Council, 
and by the Hon. John A. Macdonald in the Assembly. After 
protracted debate, the report of which fills a volume of over a 
thousand pages, Mr. Macdonald moved the appointment of a 
committee to draft an address to the Queen on the subject of 
the union of all the British North American provinces.* Four 
several motions in opposition to confederation were defeated 
by Ikrge majorities ; the original motion was carried by a vote 
of ninety-one to thirty-three ; and a strong deputation pro- 
ceeded to England to confer with the Imperial authorities upon 
the carrying out of the project of confederation. 

In New Brunswick, in the meantime, a general election had 
taken place, and an assembly highly adverse to confederation 
had been returned. Not a sin2:le man who had been a delegate 
at the Quebec conference was elected. In Nova Scotia, the 
anti-confederation agitation was strongly pressed by Joseph 
Howe, the leader of the Opposition. The friends of the move- 
ment in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island were dis- 
heartened, and it seemed as though the scheme would be wrecked 
almost before it was fairly launched. 

The chief contest took place in New Brunswick. The Legis- 

in tlie islands of the Gulf of Mexico. All sonthern political stars must set, 
thougli many times they rise again with diminished splendour. But those 
which illuminate the pole remain forever shining, forever increasing in splen- 
dour." 

* The committee was composed of Messrs. J. A. Macdonald, Brown, Gait, 
Cartier, Kobitaille and Haultain. 



. THE CONFEDERATION MOVEMENT. 467 

lative Council was as strongly in favour of confederation as the 
Assembly was opposed to it. The scheme was received with 
great favour by the Imperial authorities, and despatches from 
the Colonial Office strongly urged its adoption. These de- 
spatches were not without their influence on public opinion in 
New Brunswick, and as the advantages of the proposed union 
became, through fuller discussion, more apparent, the tide of 
feeling began to turn in its favour. 

The lono: and terrible civil war in the United States was now 
drawing to a close. The immense military strength of the 
North at length fairly crushed out the Southern revolt. Gen- 
eral Lee, with his war-worn army, surrendered (April 9) ; 
Jefferson Davis, the ill-starred president of the confederacy, 
was captured; and slavery was dead. Generals Grant and 
Sherman were hailed as the saviours of the republic. But this 
hour of the nation's triumph was dashed with horror and grief 
by the cowardly and cruel murder of its civic head — the 
simple, honest, magnanimous Abraham Lincoln. All Christen- 
dom shuddered with abhorrence at the foul assassination. The 
heart of Canada was deeply stirred. Crowded meetings for the 
expression of the national sympathy were held, and the utmost 
detestation of the crime was avowed. Amid tolling bells, flags 
at half-mast, and mourning emblems, the obsequies of the 
martyred president were celebrated throughout the land ; and 
much of the growing estrangement of recent years between the 
two nations was overcome by this exhibition of popular sym- 
pathy and good-will. 

In the month of June a disastrous fire swept the crowded 
wooden suburbs of Quebec, destroying a million dollars' worth 
of property, and leaving three thousand jDeople homeless. The 
same month witnessed the decease of the premier of Canada, 
Sir E. P. Tache. He was succeeded in office by Sir Narcissus 
Belleau, a member of the Upper House, and on the 8th of 
August the parliament met in Quebec for the purpose of receiv- 
ing the report of the deputation sent to Great Britain to pro- 
mote the scheme of confederation. The session was short, and 
little opposition was offered to the ministerial measures deemed 



468 HISTOBT OF CANADA. 

necessary for the consummation of the grand design which was 
to become the epoch of a new and ampler national career. 

In the month of October the veteran English premier, Lord 
Palmerston, also died ; but the policy of the British Government 
with respect to confederation underwent no change. 




PAKLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA. 



Towards the close of the year the seat of government was 
removed from Quebec to Ottawa, where the new parliament 
buildings, now approaching completion, were to become the 
home of a legislature still more august than that for which they 
were originally designed. These superb buildings, the finest 
specimens of Gothic architecture on the continent, have cost in 
their erection over three millions of dollars. The main build- 
ing is shown in the engraving. It is constructed chiefly of 
cream-colored sandstone from the adjoining township of Nepean. 
The departmental buildings and library are of great elegance 
of design and stability of construction. 



TEE FENIAN INVASION, 1866 469 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 

Eeciprocity Negotiations — Hon. George Brown leaves the Ministry — American 
Fiscal Policy — The Fenian Brotherhood— Volunteers called out— Feniau 
Fiasco at Campo Bello — O'Neil Invades Canada from Buffalo, June 1 — The 
Fight at Eidgeway — The Fenians Escape — The Fenians Threaten Prescott 
and Cornwall — "General" Spear Crosses the Frontier of Lower Canada — 
He is Kepulsed, June 8 — Last Parliament of " Old Canada " meets at Ottawa, 
June 8— It Eevises Tariff and Prepares for Confederation — The Monroe 
Doctrine — General Banks' Bill in U. S. Congress — Fenian Trials at Toronto. 

THE reciprocity treaty between the United States and 
Canada was now approacliing the period of its expira- 
tion by efflitxion of time. It bad been of immense isee. 
commercial advantage to both countries. Under its provisions 
the international trade had grown to the enormous value of 
seventy million dollars annually. A " Confederate Council on 
Commercial Treaties " was organized at Quebec for the purpose 
of negotiating for the renewal of the treaty, and for the open- 
ino- of commercial relations with the West Indies and the coun- 
tries of South America.* A deputation was sent to Washington 
to confer with the United States Government, through the Brit- 
ish minister. That Government, however, refused to grant the 
renewal of the treaty, except under conditions highly disadvan- 
tageous to Canada. The Canadian ministry were willing to 
make considerable concessions to the United States, and even 
to accept legislative reciprocity if the continuance of the treaty 
could not be secured. The Hon. George Brown, however, 
objected to a reciprocity which was liable to abrogation at 
any time by the vote of a selfish and fickle congress, and 

* A deputation suhsequently proceeded to those countries for this purpose. 
They recommended the establishment of steamship lines and postal facilities 
and reciprocal firee trade. No very definite result, however, accrued at the time 
from this effort. 



470 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

thought the concessions demanded not warranted under the 
circumstances. In consequence of this disagreement of opinion 
with his colleagues he retired from the cabinet, and was suc- 
ceeded by the Hon. Fergusson Blair. He continued, however, 
with the party which he represented, to support the great 
measure of confederation, which was now so nearly accom- 
i^lished. 

Mr. Howe, the delegate from Nova Scotia to the trade con- 
vention at Detroit during the summer of 1865, had made a 
jDrofound impression by his eloquent exposition of the mutual 
advantages of reciprocity; but the effect was only transient. 
The exigencies of the American Government, a feeling of irri- 
tation at the supposed sympathy of Canada with the South during 
the war, and the delusion on the part of at least some members 
of congress, that the provinces could be thus coerced into seek- 
ing annexation with the United States, overrode every effort 
for the continuance of the treaty. The vast indebtedness 
incurred by the war, led to the adoption of a high customs tariff 
for revenue purposes, afterwards increased for the protection 
of the manufacturing interests. It was therefore considered 
necessary that the volume of trade flowing from C'anada should 
pay the same proportionate duty as was levied on that coming 
from other foreign countries. 

Before the termination of the treaty, which took place in the 
month of March, the provinces were drained of all their surplus 
live-stock and farm-produce. The capacity of the railroads 
and steam-ferries was taxed to the utmost in their transport. 
The stoppage of trade, therefore, was not nearly so disastrous 
as was anticipated ; and there were many counterbalancing 
advantages to the country resulting from its interruption. It 
greatly stimulated the development of Canadian manufactures 
and the growth of foreign and intercolonial commerce, and 
promoted the scheme of confederation. The lumber-trade, the 
most important in the country, and absorbing more capital in 
its operations than any other, suffered very slightly, if at all. 
The chief inconvenience fell upon the American consumers, 
who had to pay higher prices for lumber and other indispensa- 



THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 471 

ble necessaries. New England suffered largely by the loss of 
the Canadian supplies of wool and other raw products, as well 
as of cheap provisions for her manufacturing population, and 
also by the restriction of the Canadian sales of their manufact- 
ured products. Instead of promoting annexation, the abro- 
gation of the treaty had precisely the opposite effect. It opened 
new avenues of trade and industry, and convinced the Canadians 
of their ability to prosper without depending so largely on com- 
mercial intercourse with the United States, and fostered a spirit 
of patriotism and nationality. 

This spirit was further jDromoted by contemporaneous events. 
The hostile demonstrations of the Fenian brotherhood caused 
considerable alarm along the frontier, and provoked just indig- 
nation against United States officials who, for political purposes, 
fostered this infamous organization, and pandered to the un- 
reasoning prejudices and antipathies of its members. 

The ostensible object of this armed conspiracy was the libera- 
tion of Ireland from English rule, and the avenging of its 
ancient wrongs. As a means to that end, although the relevancy 
is not very ajjparent, the conquest of Canada was proposed, 
and multitudes of infatuated "patriots" contributed large 
amounts of money and formed local organizations in the chief 
American cities and frontier towns. Gangs of reckless despe- 
radoes, created by the civil war, and even some leaders of higher 
rank and of considerable military skill and experience, on the 
return of peace, finding their occupation gone, joined the law- 
less movement. The arms, equipments and military stores of 
the disbanded United States armies being thrown upon the mar- 
ket, large quantities were purchased at a low rate and stored at 
points convenient for the invasion of Canada. 

In order to secure the Irish vote, the rival political factions 
of the United States shamefully abetted this conspiracy against 
the peace and prosperity of an unoffending neighbouring coun- 
try, and permitted the public parade and drilling of this army 
of invasion^ not only without censure but with their active co- 
operation. Prominent civic and other officials in the United 



472 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

States harangued the meetings, subscribed to the funds, and 
encouraged the nefarious designs of the Fenian brotherhood. 

The plan of operations of this pernicious organization was 
twofold. The first scheme proposed a combined attack, at 
several points of the frontier, on Canada, where, it was asserted, 
the Irish "patriots" had many sympathizers. The other and 
still more insane plan contemplated a direct attack upon Ireland. 

The former was j^romoted by ' ' President " Roberts and 
' ' General " Sweeney ; the latter by a rival section of the 
brotherhood, under the leadership of " Head Centre " Stephens 
and "Colonel" O'Mahony.- 

Saint Patrick's day, the 17th of March, was announced as the 
date of the menaced invasion. The Canadian Government 
responded to the insolent threat by calling out ten thousand 
volunteers. The heart of the country was thrilled to its core. 
In four and twenty hours fourteen thousand of its sons sprang 
to arms for its protection, and multitudes of Canadians dwelling 
in the United States hastened home to take part in its defence. 
The exposed points were promptly garrisoned and the frontier 
was vigilantly guarded. Saint Patrick's day, however, passed 
without any disturbance of the peace, and with even less than 
its usual amount of bannered pomp and patriotic demonstra- 
tion. 

In the month of April, a foolish attempt, which ended in a 
ridiculous fiasco, was made by a handful of ill-equipped would- 
be warriors against the New Brunswick frontier. The presence 
of a few regulars and volunteers at Campo Bello, St. Andrew's, 
and St. Stephen's, so cooled their martial enthusiasm, that they 
did not venture to cross the boundary-line. The theft of a 
custom-house flag was duly chronicled as the gallant capture of 
British colours, and won a little cheap popularity till the dis- 
covery of the facts made the actors in the farce the laughing- 
stock of the continent. 

By the middle of May, the invasion having seemingly ex- 
hausted itself in futile threats, a considerable proportion of the 
volunteer force were withdrawn from the frontier, and allowed 
to return to their homes. But secret preparations were being 



THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. . 473 

made for a number of simultaneous attacks on Canada. One 
expedition from Detroit, Chicago, and other Western cities, was 
dii'ected against the Lake Huron frontier ; another, from Buffalo 
and Rochester , was to cross the Niagara River ; a third, from 
New York and the Eastern cities, was to cross the St. Lawrence 
at Ogdensburg, sever the communication between the eastern 
and western portions of the country at Prescott, and menace 
the seat of government at Ottawa. Meanwhile the right wing 
of the invading force was to harass and plunder the frontier 
settlements of the Eastern townships. The result of these 
grand schemes was singularly incommensurate with their mag- 
nitude. 

The main attack was on the Niagara frontier. The city of 
Buffalo swarmed with lawless ruffians, from Cleveland, San- 
dusky, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and even from 
as far south as Memphis, Tennessee. Before daylight on 
Friday, June 1, some twelve or fourteen hundred of them, 
under the command of " General" O'Neil, crossed from Black 
Eock, and took possession of the village of Fort Erie. Al- 
though the United States gunboat ' ' IMichigan " patrolled the 
river for the ostensible purpose of preventing a breach of inter- 
national peace, yet O'Neil was undisturbed in this movement, and 
was during the day re-enforced by three hundred men. He was, 
however, utterly disappointed in any Canadian demonstration 
of sympathy, if such were expected. The rolling-stock of the 
Buffalo branch of the Grand Trunk Railway had been with- 
drawn, but a portion of the track was destroyed, a bridge 
burned, and the telegraph wires cut. During the night, or 
very early on Saturday morning, O'Neil, leaving a guard at 
Fort Erie to cover his retreat, advanced ten miles southwest- 
ward towards the "Welland Canal, probably with the intention 
of destroying the locks and cutting the railway. He halted 
under cover of some woods at Limeridge not far from the vil- 
lage of Ridge way, and threw up a slight breastwork of logs 
and rails. 

Meanwhile the tidings of the invasion thrilled the entire 
country ; the volunteers mustered in force with the utmost 

60 



474 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

promptitude at their several places of assembly, and active" 
preparations were made for the repulse of the enemy. The 
steamboats "Passport" and " City of Toronto " were at once 
reserved for military purposes, and the railway companies were 
notified that the lines leading to the frontier must be j)laced at 
the disposal of the military authorities. The volunteers of 
Toronto, Hamilton, and other places near the scene of action, 
were promptly despatched, by train or steamer, to the appointed 
places of rendezvous. The Queen's Own Eifle Brigade, a 
Toronto volunteer corps, the Thirteenth Battalion of Hamilton, 
and the York and Caledonia volunteers, under command of 
Colonel Booker, concentrated on Friday evening, June 1, at 
Port Colborne, at the Lake Erie entrance to the Welland 
Canal. Colonel Peacock, with a thousand volunteers and seven 
hundred and fifty regulars, with a battery of artillery, took 
post, late the same night, at the historic village of Chippewa, 
near the Falls of Niagara. 

Early on Saturday morning, Colonel Booker's force, ignorant 
of O'Neil's whereabouts, were conveyed by train to Eidgeway, 
and thence advanced towards Limeridge, with the intention of 
joining Peacock's command. About eight o'clock they discov- 
ered the enemy securely posted among the trees on a rising 
ground. The Queen's Own were thrown out as skirmishers, 
and drove in O'Neil's advance line. The volunteers pressed 
the enemy steadily back for more than a mile, under a heavy 
fire. Some mounted Fenians now came in sight, and under the 
apprehension that a force of cavalry was at hand, the order was 
given to form squares. The advance skirmishers, having ex- 
hausted their ammunition, also retired on their supports. This 
double movement threw the volunteer troops into confusion, 
soon converted into a retreat, which, however, was gallantly 
covered by the Queen's Own and the Thirteenth Battalion, which 
kept up a cool and steady fire on the ranks of the advancing 
enemy. In this disastrous affair seven Toronto volunteers — 
Ensign McEachren and six privates of the regiment, some of 
them mere lads — were slain, and four officers and nineteen 
men wounded, some of whom afterwards died from injuries 



TEJE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 475 

received. The loss of the Feniau horde is unknown, as they 
buried their dead upon the field of conflict, and at once retreated 
on Fort Erie. There is reason to believe, however, that it was 
greater than that which they inflicted. 

Colonel Dennis, meanwhile, had occupied the village of Fort 
Erie with a force of seventy men, conveyed in a tug-boat from 
Port Colborne, and had captured the Fenian guard of sixty 
men. These he confined on board the tug-boat, which was 
employed to patrol the river and prevent the arrival of Fenian 
re-enforcements. Colonel Dennis's handful of men were in 
turn overpowered by O'Neil's command, more than tenfold 
their number, which had now retmiaed. It captm'ed forty and 
wounded thirteen of the volunteers, but not till the latter had 
inflicted a loss of five killed and several wounded on the enemy. 

Dm-ing the night, four hundred armed ruffians left Buffalo to 
re-enforce the invaders, and many more swarmed in the lowest 
purlieu of the city, ready to ravage and pillage the peaceful 
inhabitants of Canada in retaliation for the alleged wrongs of 
Ireland. O'Neil, however, found that the conquest of Canada 
was not the mere holiday campaign he seems to have imagined 
it. Instead of an,y sympathy with his visionary and wicked 
designs, he found the inhabitants, almost to a man, loyal to the 
institutions of their country. He was now anxious, with his 
misguided dupes, to escape, however ignominiously, from the 
country he had so wantonly invaded, before he should be sur- 
rounded by the advancing force of Canadian volunteers. He 
therefore ordered back the re-enforcements already on their way 
from Buffalo, and during the darkness stole across the river 
with the bulk of his force — over nine hundred men — in canal- 
boats, tugs, skiffs, and every available means of transport, some 
even on planks torn up from the wharves. His own pickets, 
and all his Canadian prisoners, were left behind, as well as the 
dead and wounded. 

On Sunday morning. Colonel Peacock's advance-guard 
marched into Fort Erie, but were only in time to capture a 
number of Fenian stragglers. Others of the marauding ban- 
ditti skulked through the neighbouring woods till they could 



476 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

escape across the border. That Sabbath-day was one of un- 
wonted excitement throughout Canada. In many of the 
churches bulletins announcing the names of the killed and 
wounded were read from the pulpits. In the cities, hospital- 
suppKes were collected, and patriotic women met to prepare 
lint and ambulance necessaries. All day the telegraph-wires 
continued to flash intelligence of alarm or re-assurance. The 
streets were thronged, the printing-offices were besieged, and 
the presses could not print the successive bulletins fast enough 
to supply the eager demand. Towards evening the city of 
Toronto was moved by a common sorrow, as the bodies of her 
slain volunteers were received by an immense concourse of 
the citizens. Two days later they were borne, with funeral 
pageantry, to their early graves. A grateful country has 
erected a marble monument to their memory, which shall be an 
imperishable inspiration of patriotism to successive generations 
of the ingenuous youth of Canada. 

The country was now thoroughly aroused. The volunteers 
were called out in force, and were massed at convenient centres 
from which to move to whatever point seemed menaced with 
attack. At the military depots long railway trains, laden with 
batteries of artillery, and with shot, shell, and other war ma- 
teriel ^ stood on the sidings, awaiting the summons to the point 
of danger. Cavalry and infantry marched through the streets 
to the sound of martial music, with all the pomp and circum- 
stance of war. Hundreds of Canadian youth employed in the 
United States threw up their engagements, and hastened home 
to defend their native land. 

Several points on the frontier were threatened with invasion. 
A large body of Fenians assembled at Ogdensburg, as if for a 
dash across the St. Lawrence, and a raid upon the capital. 
But two thousand regular and volunteer troops, rapidly massed 
at Prescott, and a gun-boat which patrolled the river, effectually 
prevented an attack. 

The would-be invaders now moved eastward to Malone, 
opposite Cornwall ; but a force of three thousand Canadian 
troops at the latter point made them prudently desist from their 



THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 477 

designs. There was now a hostile force of five thousand armed 
men on the frontier of a professedly friendly country, only 
prevented from invading Canadian soil and harassing and 
ravaging Canadian farms and villages by the vigilance and 
valour of their inhabitants. The spirited remonstrance of the 
British minister at Washington, compelled the United States 
Government at length to interfere and restrain this wanton vio- 
lation of international right and comity. General Meade, an 
able and honest United States officer, seized a large quantity of 
Fenian arms, ammunition, and military stores, at Ogdensburg, 
and efiectually paralyzed the movements of the marauders. 

On the 8th of June, however, " General" Spear, with some 
two thousand Fenian ruffians, crossed the frontier near St. 
Albans, and took up a position at "Pigeon Hill," three miles 
from the border. They forthwith began to plunder and ravage 
the neighbourhood, but the prompt rally of the Canadian forces 
compelled them to retreat precipitately to the sheltering terri- 
tory of the United States, where they were disarmed and 
dispersed by General Meade. 

So ended in ignominy and disgrace to all its actors, aiders, 
and abettors, the wanton, infatuated and unprovoked Fenian 
invasion of Canada. The result was not an unmixed evil. 
The expense to the country of the transport and maintenance 
of troops, — of whom forty thousand volunteers alone were 
at one time under arms, — and the cost of guarding its exten- 
sive frontier, was great. . The sacrifice of precious lives was 
irreparable and lamentable ; but the glow of patriotism which 
was kindled in the hearts of the people made the • country 
realize its strength, and developed a national feeling which was 
a guarantee of its ability to assume the new and important 
national duties to which it was about to be summoned. The 
short campaign revealed also certain defects in our military 
system which demanded prompt removal. The equipment of 
the troops and the commissariat arrangements were very imper- 
fect. Ther« was also a singular lack of proper information, and 
ignorance of the topography of the country. The precipitance 
of the volunteers in rushing into action on the Niagara frontier, 



478 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

without waiting to carry out the combinations with the regulars 
and artillery designed by Colonel Peacock, was the cause of 
serious loss and prevented the infliction of a well-merited 
punishment upon the invaders. 

On the same day that the gallant Hochelaga Voltigeurs were 
repelling invasion from the eastern frontier (June 8), the legis- 
lature of the country was opened in the new parliament build- 
ings at Ottawa. The Habeas Corpus Act was temporarily 
suspended, in order to enable the Government to deal promptly 
with Fenian emissaries from the United States, and other sus- 
picious characters. The abrogation of the reciprocity treaty 
necessitated the remodelling of the tariff. The maximum duty 
^ was fixed at fifteen per cent., with free admission of raw ma- 

terials used in manufactures, and the bulk of manufactured 
goods were admitted at the low rate of five per cent. The 
prosperity of the previous year left in the hands of the Finance 
Minister a surplus adequate to meet the unforeseen and heavy 
military expenditure caused by the Fenian raids. Eesolutions 
were passed defining the constitutions of Upper and Lower 
Canada, in furtherance of the scheme of confederation ; and, 
on the 18th of August, the last parliament of the old Canadian 
provinces was prorogued. 

"Thus," says the Hon. John Hamilton Gray,* "passed 
away in calm a Constitution which, born in strife and turmoil, 
sprung from maladministration and rebellion, — forced upon a 
reluctant province, — (the oldest, and, at the time, most im- 
portant section of the Union), without consulting its people, 
and against the wishes of the majority of its inhabitants, — 
had, nevertheless, during twenty-five years of unexampled 
prosperity and material progress, laid the foundation deep and 
strong of true constitutional liberty, — had removed the asper- 
ities of race and tau2;ht the united descendants of France and 
England that the true source of their future greatness and 
power on this continent would lie in a mutual regard for each 
other's rights, a mutual forbearance for each other's prejudices, 

* " Confederation of Canada," Vol. I., p. 372. 



THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 479 

and a generous, strong, conjoint effort towards consolidating 
their extensive territories, and developing their vast resources 
under one government, and one flag." 

The formation of a strong and united nation on their north- 
ern border was regarded with little favour by American advo- 
cates of the Monroe doctrine. They seemed to consider it the 
natural right and manifest destiny of the United States to claim 
the "whole boundless continent" as its own. Finding that 
commercial coercion and Fenian invasion did not drive the 
loyal and patriotic Canadians into the arms of the model 
republic, the attempt was made to divide and cajole the British 
North American provinces. In the United States Congress, 
General Banks, an irrepressible Massachusetts *' statesman," 
had the eminent impertinence to introduce a bill, providing for 
the admission into the American Union of the British provinces 
as four separate States, with the assumption of their public 
debt by the Federal Government. The committee on foreign 
affairs, however, had the good sense to throw out the propo- 
sition as an insulting menace, and the British North American 
colonies were wisely allowed to settle their own political destiny 
without foreign interference. 

The ancient capital of Canada was again visited during the 
summer by one of those disastrous fires from which it has so 
often suffered. Over two thousand houses in the St. Koche 
and St. Sauveur suburbs were destroyed, and twenty thousand 
persons left homeless. Great and permanent injury resulted 
to the prosperity of the city from the scattering of the indus- 
trial population, especially those engaged in ship-building ; 
and the improvement in the navigation of the St. Lawrence, 
and the extensive substitution of steamships for sailing vessels, 
eventually transferred the commercial supremacy to the city of 
Montreal. 

At the fall assizes at Toronto, the trial of the Fenian prison- 
ers, captured during the recent raid, took place, and awakened 
deep interest throughout the country and in the United States. 
Many American newspapers and politicians, in their efforts to 
gain the Fenian vote, did not scruple to avow their sympathy 



480 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



with the arraigned ruffians, and even to urge the interference 
of the United States Government on their behalf. The 
majesty of British law was, however, asserted ; and the cul- 
prits, without fear or favour, received a fair trial. Many were 
discharged for lack of sufficient criminating evidence, but 
several were convicted and sentenced to death. In deference 
to a public sentiment in favour of clemency, this sentence 
was commuted for one of imprisonment in the provincial 
penitentiary. 




THE " GREAT EASTERN.** 

During the summer the ' ' Great Eastern " steamship suc- 
cessfully laid a new Atlantic telegraph cable. Four previous 
attempts had been failures. After twelve years of disappointed 
endeavour, in which he had crossed the ocean fifty times, the 
genius of Field had established permanent communication 
between the Old World and the New. In 1858, indeed, a 
cable had been laid, and messages for a short time transmitted ; 
but it soon became silent. In 1865, the giant size and strength 
of the * ' Great Eastern " were employed in this difficult en- 
deavour. When twelve hundred miles were laid, by a sudden 
lurch of the ship, the cable snapped and was lost. The bottom 
of the sea was dragged four days in vain, and the expedition 



THE FENIAN INVASION, 1866. 481 

returned defeated to England. After landing the cable at 
Valentia Bay in the summer of 1866, the "Great Eastern" 
returned to mid-ocean, and, after a month's labour, grap- 
pled from the depth of two miles the lost cable ; and, joining it 
to one on board, completed a second link from land to land. 
Both Great Britain and America joined to do honour to " the 
Columbus of modern times, who, by his cable, had moored the 
New World alongside the Old." Among its earliest messages 
was one announcing an armistice between Prussia and Austria, 
after the terrible seven days' campaign and decisive battle of 
Sadowa, won, with frightful carnage, for the Prussians, by the 
agency of the deadly needle-gun. 

61 



4:82 HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XL. 

NOVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 

Organization of Government, 1758 — Effects of the War — Colonial Governors 
— New England Agitators attempt to Excite Sedition — United Empire 
Loyalists — The Duke of Kent at Halifax — The War of 1812- 14 — Sir J. 
Wentworth, Sir G. Prevost, Sir J. Sherbroke, Sir J. Kempt and Sir J. Mait- 
land, Governors — Cape Breton — Quit-rent Claims. 

WE have now arrived at the very eve of the confederation 
of the four larger provinces of British North America 
into one nation. We will therefore return and bring: down the 
history of the maritime provinces to this period. Like affluents 
of our mighty St. Lawrence, which pour their separate streams 
into its broadening flood, so the currents of colonial history, 
with the accomplishment of confederation, merge their separate 
existence in the vaster sweep of the history of the united 
Dominion of Canada. 

During the war which resulted in the conquest of Canada 
(1755-1760) Nova Scotia shared the disturbances which were in- 
separable from such a prolonged and desperate conflict. After 
the fall of Louisburg, previously described, (Chapter XVIL) 
the tide of battle retreated from the seaboard to the interior. 
The expulsion of the Acadians left a feeling of intense irrita- 
tion on the part of the remnant of that outraged people and 
their Micmac allies. Another serious impediment to the pros- 
perity of the country was the want of a regularly organized 
government. There being no representative legislature, the 
decrees of the Governor and Council lacked the authority which 
a popular sanction alone can give. Governor Lawrence, on 
account of the disturbed state of the country, did not favour 
the granting of an Assembly. The petitions of the people 
and the instructions of the Lords of Plantations induced him, 
however, to waive his objections. At length the first Legisla- 



^WVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 483 

tive Assembly ever held within the territory of the present 
Dominion met in the court-house of Halifax, October 2, 1758. 
It consisted of twenty-two members , elected as representatives 
of the people. The Church of England was established by 
law, but perfect toleration was granted to all other sects. 
Liberal land-grants were offered as an encouragement to immi- 
gration. During the following year five hundred and eighty 
settlers arrived from Boston and other parts of New England, 
and three hundred from Ireland. 

The conquest of Canada was the cause of great rejoicing in 
Nova Scotia. These rejoicings, however, were attended with 
one melancholy result. At a ball held at the Government 
House to celebrate the capitulation of Montreal, Governor 
Lawrence caught a cold, which resulted, in a few days, in his 
death. The first Governor of Nova Scotia was followed to the 
grave by the regrets of the whole province. He was accorded 
a public funeral and a monument in St. Paul's Church, Halifax, 
as a tribute to his services to the colony. The one stain upon 
his memory was the harshness that accompanied the expulsion 
of the Acadians. He was succeeded in office by the Hon. 
Jonathan Belcher, Chief Justice of Nova Scotia. 

During the war, the French inhabitants of Miramichi and 
Eestiofouche suffered much from British cruisers. The thriving 
village of La Petite Eochelle was destroyed by Captain Byron 
in 1760, and the settlement of Beaubair's Island, numbering a 
thousand souls, was wasted by famine and pestilence. After 
the war, a large number of French settlers , now that they were 
abandoned by the mother country, took the oath of allegiance 
to the British crown. The Micmac Indians also entered into a 
treaty of peace with the authorities at Halifax, and buried the 
hatchet with much ceremony in the presence of the Governor, 
Council and public officers. 

Much excitement was caused in Halifax on the surrender of 
St. John's, Newfoundland, to four French men-of-war, in June, 
1762. An attack from the victorious squadron was anticipated, 
and vigorous measures were taken for the defence of the town. 
A boom was stretched across the North-AYest harbour, and the 



484 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

<« Northumberland," the only man-of-war in port, was anchored 
in mid-channel. A hundred and thirty Acadians who still 
remained in the province, were shipped to Boston to prevent 
their taking part in any rising of the French. The colony of 
Massachusetts, however, refused them permission to land, and 
they were sent back to Halifax. In the meantime, peace was 
declared November 8, and, by the treaty of Paris, all the French 
possessions in Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and the 
islands in the Gulf and River St. Lawrence were ceded to 
Great Britain. In 1763, Colonel Montague Wilmot was ap- 
pointed Governor. The following year Cape Breton and the 
island of St. John (Prince Edward Island) were annexed to 
Nova Scotia; but the latter was again separated in 1770. 

A rapid succession of Governors and Lieutenant-Governors 
now administered the affairs of Nova Scotia till its separation 
from New Brunswick. * A steady flow of immigration increased 
the population and prosperity of the province. During the 
agitation in Massachusetts with respect to the Stamp Act, that 
province endeavoured to secure the sympathy and support of 
Nova Scotia. But the loyalty of the younger colony was un- 
shaken and, with a few individual exceptions, it never swerved 
from its fealty to the mother country during the troublous times 
of the Revolutionary War. On the outbreak of that war a 
proclamation of non-intercourse with the revolted colonies was 
issued, and, notwithstanding the inducements of large profits, 
with few exceptions was faithfully observed. The coast settle- 
ments of Nova Scotia were much harassed by American priva- 
teers. A party from Machias destroyed the fort at the mouth 
of the St. John and fired the houses of the fishing-station there 
established. Emissaries from Massachusetts endeavoured to 
stir up disaffection among a settlement of New England immi- 
grants at Maugerville. Led astray by their seductions, a num- 

* The names and dates of assuming office are as follows. They do not de- 
mand individual characterization : Michael Franklin, 1766 ; Lord William 
Campbell, 1766 and 1772; Francis Legge, 1773; Mariot Arbuthnot, 1776; 
Eichard Hughes, 1778 ; Sir Andrew S. Hammondj 1781 ; John Parr, 1782 ; 
and Edward Fanning, 1783. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 485 

ber of the latter made a futile attack on Fort Cumberland 
(Beau Sejour). Failing to capture it, they seized a brig, which 
they carried off and sold at Machias. This escapade, however, 
was overlooked by the Government on their indemnifying the 
owners of the brig. 

The seductions of the emissaries of revolt proved more suc- 
cessful with the Micmac Indians. Ever eager for a fray, they 
agreed to send a war-party of six hundred " braves" to fight 
for General Washington, and to make an attack on the British 
settlements. Mr. Franklin, the Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs, however, invited the chiefs to an interview, where he 
so feasted and flattered and loaded them with presents, that 
they broke their agreement with Washington, and renewed 
their allegiance to King George. A similar outbreak the fol- 
lowing year was pacified by similar means. Since then, the 
Nova Scotia Indians have ever been loyal to the crown. 

Liberal provision was made in Nova Scotia, as well as in 
Canada, for the reception of the U. E. Loyalist refugees from 
the United States, and large land-grants were allotted them. 
Considerable numbers came to Halifax, Annapolis, Port Eose- 
way (Shelburne) , and other points. The main body, however, 
settled near the St. John and Kennebecasis rivers, of whose 
fertile lands they had received glowing accounts from agents 
sent to explore the country. On the 18th of May, the ships 
bearing these exiles for conscience' sake, arrived at the mouth 
of the St. John. Here they resolved to found a new Troy, to 
hew out for themselves new homes in the wilderness. The 
prospect was not a flattering one. The site of the present 
noble city of St. John was a forest of pines and spruces, sur- 
rounded by a dreary marsh. The blackened ruins of Fort 
Frederick and of a few fishermen's huts met their gaze ; to- 
gether with a block-house, and a few houses and stores. A 
rude shelter was speedily constructed for the reception of the 
destitute families, and Jbefore the summer was over, a popula- 
tion of five thousand persons was settled in the vicinity. 
Among these were seventy-four refugees from Maryland. They 
were the survivors of the wreck of the " Martha,'* a ship of 



486 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

the September fleet, which had sailed from New York to 
Quebec, with eight thousand of these exiled people. 

To the new settlement the name of Parrtown was given, in 
honour of the energetic Governor of Nova Scotia. In a letter 
to Lord North, in September, 1783, that gentleman estimates 
the number of refugee loyalists in Nova Scotia and St. John's 
Island at thirteen thousand. Soon the loyalists claimed repre- 
sentation in the Assembly of Nova Scotia. This the Governor 
opposed, as his instructions prohibited the increase of repre- 
sentatives. The settlers on the St. John urged that their ter- 
ritory should be set apart as a separate province, with its 
own representative institutions. They had powerful friends in 
England, and the division was accordingly made. The Prov- 
ince of New Brunswick was created, and named in honour of 
the reigning dynasty of Great Britain, 1784. Cape Breton, at 
the same time, was made a separate province ; the Eiver Missi- 
quash becoming the dividing line. 

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick both experienced the 
irrepressible conflict between the Council and the Assembly, — 
between the prerogatives of the crown and the growth of 
popular liberty. During the French and Revolutionary wars, 
Halifax had been a great naval and military rendezvous, and 
society assumed a highly aristocratic and conservative tone. 
The Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, during the latter 
years of the century (1794*-1799) Commander-in-Chief of the 
royal forces, dispensed a splendid hospitality, and fostered the 
loyal enthusiasm of the people. In compliment to him, the 
name of St. John's Island was changed to Prince Edward Island. 
Much English money was spent in the colony, and its com- 
mercial progress was rapid. Governor Parr, and his successor. 
Sir John Wentworth, jealously guarded the prerogatives of the 
crown against what they considered as the democratic encroach- 
ments of the people. The latter, especially, was a strong sup- 

* In 1796, six Imndred Maroons, insurgent negroes from Jamaica, "were trans- 
ported to Nova Scotia, and allocated on lands. The experiment, hoTvever, 
proved unsuccessful, and they were subsequently removed to the more con- 
genial climate of Sierra Leone. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 487 

porter of the Church of England. Through his exertions, 
Kino-'s CoUeofe was established at Windsor, for the exclusive 
benefit of that Church, all other denominations being excluded 
from its privileges. 

In 1808, Sir John Wentworth was succeeded in office by Sir 
George Prevost. As war with the United States was immi- 
nent, he was promoted, in 1811, on account of his presumed 
military ability, to be Governor of Canada and Commander-in- 
Chief of the forces. Before leaving Nova Scotia, he laid the 
foundation-stone of the handsome provincial buildings in the 
city of Halifax. He was succeeded by Sir John Cope Sher- 
broke. Nova Scotia felt little of the. direct burdens of the war 
of 1812-14, as compared witlf the upper provinces, but bene- 
fited very greatly by the increased military and naval expendi- 
ture. The vast fleets of Great Britain rendezvoused in the 
spacious harbour of Halifax, the guns of the citadel continually 
welcomed the arrival of prizes in tow of British cruisers, and the 
Imperial dock-yard was busy with repairs. We have already 
described the stirring episode of the arrival of the *' Chesa- 
peake," captured by the gallant Broke of H. M. S. *' Shan- 
non." In 1814, two expeditions sailed from Halifax for the 
coast of Maine. By the first. Moose Island and Eastport, and, 
by the second, Castine and Bangor were taken, and the entire 
region from the Penobscot to the St. Croix was reduced under 
British rule. For this enterprise, the Governor received the 
thanks of the Assembly, and the grant of £1,000 to purchase 
a service of plate. 

In 1816, Sir John Sherbroke was promoted to the Governor- 
Generalship of Canada. He was succeeded by the Earl of 
Dalhousie, a gallant soldier and accomplished gentleman. 
Nova Scotia felt severely the re-action from the factitious pros- 
perity caused by the war. The revenue greatly fell oflf, trade 
languished, the dock-yard establishment was reduced, and hun- 
dreds of workmen were thrown out of employment. The dis- 
tinction of being the chief British naval station in American 
waters, was transferred from Halifax to Bermuda, to the great 
injury of the former. A more agreeable circumstance was the 



488 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

establishment and endowment of Dalhousie College at Halifax, 
and the inauguration of the parish-school system of education. 

Lord Dalhousie, following established precedent, was pro- 
moted to the Governor-Generalship of Canada, and was suc- 
ceeded in 1820, by Sir James Kempt, G. C. B. During this 
year, Cape Breton was re-united to Nova Scotia. Its fortunes, 
as a separate province, since 1784, had not been propitious. 
Louisburg was destroyed to prevent its being seized and re-for- 
tified by the French, and Sydney made the seat of Govern- 
ment. Dissensions divided the council, and a superfluous 
number of officials drained the exchequer of the tiny colony. 
Commercial disaster and discontent followed. The Home au- 
thorities, therefore, decreed its r^-union with Nova Scotia, with 
a representation of two members in the Assembly of that 
province. 

In 1828, Sir James Kempt was transferred to the Govern- 
orship of Lower Canada, and Sir Peregrine Maitland from that 
of Upper Canada to Nova Scotia. The question of quit-rents 
was one that at this time occupied much public attention, as in 
the other maritime provinces. These rents, which were only a 
shilling a year for each fifty acres, had been imposed by Gov- 
ernor Lawrence, in 1759, on all grants of public lands. This 
tax, however, small as it was, was not paid, chiefly on the plea 
of poverty. By the year 1811, the arrears amounted to over 
£40,000, and the Keceiver-General made an effort to collect 
them. The Assembly, however, appealed to the Home Gov- 
ernment against their collection. The matter remained in 
abeyance till the year 1827, when Lord Bathurst, the Colonial 
Secretary, cancelled all the quit-rents up to that date, but 
ordered their collection for purposes of local improvements for 
the future. The Assembly again petitioned against the quit- 
rent claims. The Colonial Office declined to remit them, but 
offered to commute them for the annual sum of £2,000, which 
was about their value. The House, however, was unwilling to 
accept this compromise, and argued that their long suspension 
had created the impression that these rents would never be 
demanded, and that the conveyance of land had uniformly 



NOVA' SCOTIA, 1755-1834. 489 

been with this understanding. The Colonial Office, however, 
was firm, and this commutation was subsequently (1836) 
accepted by the Assembly. 

In 1832, Sir Peregrine Maitland returned to England, and 
the Hon. T. N. Jeffrey administered the government for eigh- 
teen months till the arrival, in 1834, of Sir Colin Campbell, 
the new Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. 

62 



48ro 



mSTORT OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER XLI. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 

Family Compact — Joseph Howe, a Champion of Popular Eights — Consti- 
tutional Struggle — Lord Falkland's Stormy Administration — Sir John 
Harvey grants Kesponsible Government, 1848 — Intercolonial Railway Agita- 
tion — Eeciprocity — Sir J. Gaspard Le Marchant, Earl Mulgrave, and Sir E. 
G. MacDonnell, Governors, 1852-1867 — Confederation Conferences — Anti- 
Confederation Ee-action. 

THE maritime provinces, concurrently with tlie rebellion in 
the Canadas, were agitated by a good deal of political 
excitement. The general causes of discontent were similar, 
but they did not lead to any of the acts of violence which un- 
happily took place in the western provinces. Both Nova Scotia 
and New Brunswick were under the domination of an irrespon- 
sible Executive Council, which engrossed the j)ublic offices and 
administered the affairs of the colonies with slight regard to 
the authority of the elective Assembly or to the wishes of the 
people. 

In Nova Scotia, when Sir Colin Campbell assumed the ad- 
ministration of the government, 
the Executive Council, at whose 
Board sat the Bishop, the Chief 
Justice, and a " Family Compact " 
of allied members, met in secret 
conclave and set at defiance the 
interests and rights of the people. 
Joseph Howe, the son of a U. E. 
Loyalist, became the champion of 
popular rights. A shrewd and 
vigorous journalist, and a ready 
and eloquent speaker, "Joe 
Howe," as he was familiarly called, wielded immense influ- 
ence throughout the province. In his place in the Assembly, 




HON, JOSEPH HOWE. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 491 

on the public rostrum, and through the columns of his journal, 
he thundered against the oligarchy that governed the province. 
The Assembly formulated the public grievances into twelve 
resolutions, submitted by Mr. Howe^ which denounced isa?. 
the Council as being " exclusive, intolerant, opposed to the 
spread of civil and religious liberty, enlightenment and edu- 
cation among the people, and actuated by motives of self- 
interest which were jDrejudicial to the trade and commerce of 
the country." There was only too much truth in the charges. 
The members of the Council were all residents of Halifax, 
and did not represent the interests of the other parts of the 
province. Ten of the Councillors were members of the Church 
of England, which thus obtained a preponderant influence. 
The other denominations, which were yearly growing in num- 
bers, were very inadequately represented. Five of the Coun- 
cillors were partners in the same banking institution. These 
facts gave the sting to the accusations of the popular cham- 
pion, Joseph Howe. The Council demanded the rescinding 
of the obnoxious resolutions, under the threat of putting a 
stop to all legislation in case of refusal. The Assembly 
"kept the promise to the ear, but broke it to the hope;" 
for, while the resolutions were formally cancelled, they were 
embodied in an address to the King, which prayed for an 
elective Legislative Council and the exclusion of the Bishop 
and Chief Justice from its board. 

The prayer of the petition was answered in part. The Coun- 
cil was divided into two branches, and the Executive no lonsrer 
sat in secret conclave. The casual and territorial revenue was 
surrendered to th^ control of the Assembly, but the Council 
was not made elective. The staunch old Governor was a sturdy 
upholder of the prerogatives of the crown. The Eeformers of 
Nova Scotia were stigmatized by their opponents as rebels and 
republicans, and partisans of Papineau and Mackenzie, the 
malcontent leaders of the upper provinces. Deputations were 
sent to England by the rival parties, praying, respectively, for 
and against the granting of responsible government. Lord 
Durham's mission to Canada was regarded with intense interest, 



492 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

and his masterly report was received by the Reformers with 
enthusiasm. The scheme of a confederation of all the prov- 
inces was however denounced by the Conservative majority as 
dangerous and destructive to the empire, tending to separate 
the colonies from the mother country and to embroil the mari- 
time provinces with the disputes of the two Canadas. The 
strife of parties became intense. Early in the parliamentary 
session of 1840, Mr. Howe introduced a series of resolutions 
condemnatory of the policy of the Government, and expressing 
a want of confidence in the Executive Council. The resolutions 
were carried by a vote of thirty to twelve. Sir Colin, however, 
declined to make any new appointments to the Council which 
would bring it more into harmony with the popular sentiment 
and with the Lower House. The Assembly respectfully peti- 
tioned the crown to recall the intractable Governor and appoint 
one who would carry out the expressed purpose of the Imperial 
authorities to grant responsible government to the colonies. 
The gallant old soldier, the future hero of Alma, Balaclava and 
LucKnow, was personally popular for his upright and honour- 
able character, and was only opposed on the ground of his 
public policy. 

He was succeeded in 1840 * by Lord Falkland, whose exalted 
notions of vice-regal prerogatives became the occasion of much 
popular discontent. One of his first acts, however, was the 
practical recognition of the principle of responsible govern- 
ment, so long contended for. The Legislative Council was 
enlarged to twenty members, nine of whom represented rural 
districts. Its deliberations were conducted with open doors. 
Four members of the Executive, who had no place in either the 
Legislative Council or Assembly, were requested to retire, and 
Messrs. Howe and McNab, representative Eeformers, were 
called to their places. Six of the ten members of the Execu- 
tive were also members of the Assembly, and therefore directly 
amenable to their constituents — a wholesome constitutional 

* During this year, tlie " Britannia," the first steamer of the Cunard line, 
began her trips between Liverpool, Halifax and Boston. The Cunard fleet has 
grown to fifty vessels, with a capacity of a hundred thousand tons. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 493 

check on the Government which the people had never possessed 
before. Mr. Howe was also elected Speaker of the Assembly. 

This coalition government was destined to be of brief dura- 
tion. The question of higher education was the rock on which 
it was wrecked. IMr. Howe and the Eeform party favoured the 
project of a provincial university of an undenominational char- 
acter. Their opponents were in favour of denominational col- 
leges, supported by grants of public money. The Assembly 
defeated the latter scheme by a vote of twenty-six to twenty- 
one. The Governor thereupon dissolved the House. On the 
appeal to the country, Mr. Johnson, the Conservative leader, 
was sustained by a small majority. Messrs. Howe, McNab and 
Uniacke, who had accepted office subject to the ajDproval of the 
Assembly, proved their sincerity by resigning their seats in 
vindication of their demand for responsible government. A 
long and bitter agitation followed. Public feeling ran high. 
IVIr. Howe moved, but failed to carry, a vote of want of confi- 
dence in the Government. He forthwith began a fierce news- 
paper war on the Council and Governor, a mode of attack in 
which he was an adept. Lord Falkland was made the target of 
the most scurrilous ridicule and invective, in prose and verse. 
He winced under the ordeal, and wrote recriminatory despatches 
to the Colonial Secretary. These, returned to Nova Scotia, 
were read by the Speaker in the Assembly ; and the breach 
between the Reform leaders and the Governor grew wider than 
ever. It was evident that Lord Falkland's usefulness was at an 
end, and he was recalled in 1846. 

He was succeeded by Sir John Harvey, ex-Governor of New 
Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The 
new Governor attempted to form a coalition Council by taking 
in the leading men of both parties. Mr. Howe and his friends, 
however, anticipating the victor^'- of their party at the approach- 
ing general elections, declined the overtures of the Governor. 
The result confirmed their expectations. 

T\Tien the hew parliament met in 1848, the Government was 
defeated on a direct vote of want of confidence by a majority 
of seven in a House of forty-nine. The Executive Council 



494 EOSTORT OF CAXADA. 

thereupon resigned and a new minism' was formed from the 
leaders of the Reform party.* Thus "were the prmciples of 
responsible goTemment fullv and finally recognized. 

The question of an intercolonial railwar now for some time 
occupied much public attention. The advantage of such a road, 
as a bond of union between the upper and lower provinces, and 
as a military necessity of the empire, had been pointed out in 
liord Dnriiam's Eeport. TThen the vexed boundary question 
was settled in 1842, the Imperial authorities proposed making 
a nulitaiy macadamized road dnT>ugh Xew Brunswick to Que- 
bec. A London company offered to substitute a railway if 
subsidized by a money grant. The scheme met with warm 
sympathy in the maritime provinces, but in Canada was regarded 
as less important than the construction of a railway westward 
finom the head of ocean navigation at Montreal. Lord Falkland 
very reasonably deemed it impracticable for a private company 
to carry out such a gigantic undertaking. It was one that de- 
manded the united action of the several provinces, assisted by 
the British Government. The Imperial authorities, therefore, 
in response to tiie united request of the provinces, despatched 
Major Kobinson and Captain Henderson of the Eoyal Engineers, 
with a full staff, to make an exploratory survey. Their report 
was submitted in 1849, but the Home Government, however, 
declined to proceed with the undertaking. 

The commercial necessity for connection with the railway 
system of the United States became yearly more strongly felt 
in the maritime provinces. An important railway convention 
was therefore held at Portland, Maine, in July, 1850. Dele- 
gates from the lower provinces met commercial representatives 
of the Xew England States. Out of this convention grew the 
project of the European and Xorth American Eailway, coimect- 
insr Xova Scotia and Xevr Bruns^ck ^th the railwav svstem of 



* It5 maabeis "were Messrs. J. B. TJniaeke, ilil . . izi. Hngh BelL Joeepli 

Howe, Janies MeXab. Hubert Hn^rjuran. "Win, ±. 1^ Z^rres. L. QConnor 
Doyle, and George B. Yoffng. 

On June 8, 1819, the ^i^z^iZLzl^ izmiTersaiy of the fbnudiag of "FTft^fr i X -ws^ 
celelwated. with great e:'.-^z. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 1S3I-1S67. 495 

the United States. !Mr. Ho^ve, however, was opposed to plac- 
ing a K.il~&v through British territory under the control of an 
American compcinv. He m^d liie adopidon of a national 
policy which shiiM r ise money for the constmction of the 
road on the ere \.Li ci tie pr izies, under ImpeTial guarantee. 
Strengthened bv the approval of the countrj, he proceeded to 
England to urge this project. The aid of the Imperial Govern- 
ment was promised to the revived intercolonial scheme, bat on 
the ac:o = ?::n of the I 7 : iministration, it arain. f:r a time, 
fell to the gr:o:-h C- ::;.h. ro^l Xew Bm::5'^-::h r::,:o ?. <::-- 
tract with the gi'i-at rhia c: Zhiiton Peto, Era; ^07 cc C:. . f:r 
the construction of the Gra^i.I Trink, and S:. Jihn ar.i Sa: ;hac 
Eailways, respactiTolT ; h'at Xi'Va Scoria dechaia a tj e:a:ar :i.to 
a contract with a privore lim. 

On the 22d of Mar:h, 1:52, Xora Soitia was cahoa to 
deplore the death of its popahar Go^-emor, Sir J:hn HriTvey. 
The veteran statosaaaz. — he wa; in hi; 5 .""oa."-::'ar:h yoar. — 
had passed thro a:gh a disriziraishod a^ii h:r.:a:oa';io caocro. He 
served in a niiiioary ca^jaoiry in Iniha. in Ery-::, ao.1 in the 
Canadian war of 1812—14. He was sa lossi' :iy Lieutenant- 
Governor of iE*rince Ea~ar;I Isia:::!, Xo^ Eran.5w-"ck, Kew- 
foundland, and Xova S:::ia; and fail ci years and foil of 
honours. — sans j)€::r et s:r'.? n^ oche^ — he came to his grave. 
The government was aiaainistered by Cilonei Eazai^erte till 
the arrival of the new Eioi:te::ar.r-CT:Te:aa:r. Sir J. Gaspard 
Le ^larchant. iThe Home G_Teoa.aaea.: jr: o:odei!. t :> carry cut 
their comprehensive railway policy. Es naain :ea:'are was a 
trunk line fi'om Halifax to Pietou, and fr: la E:aii' :> 1 3 the iN'ew 
Brunswick frontier as a link in the future ::i:erc :i: ihal railway. 
The reciprocity treaty with, the United Stares caase i ; are dis- 
satisfaction in tiie maiitinie provinces, as ir ~a5 : r;i h; re 1 that 
their fisheries were thrown open to the Aar ri a^as wiihout; an 
equivalent compensation. The Howe G:T:oaanent suffered 
considerably through the intemperate ntterances of its leader 
with reference to a breach of the peace which had occnrred 
between some CathoKc and Protestant workmen. A general 
election took place in 1856, and when the House met in 1857, 



496 



EISTORT OF CANADA. 



the ministry was defeated on a vote of want of confidence by a 
majority of seven. Mr. J. W. Johnson, the Conservative 
leader, was called upon to construct a cabinet, which he speedily 
accomplished. * 

In 1858, Sir J. Gaspard Le Marchant retired from the Gov- 
ernorship, and was succeeded by the Earl of Mulgrave. The 
same year, the landing of the first Atlantic telegraph cable was 
celebrated with much enthusiasm in Halifax ; but the rejoicings 
were premature, for the cable soon parted, and not till eight 
years later were the two hemispheres permanently linked 
together by the electric wire. 

The general elections of 1859 gave the Eeform party a 
majority of two. When the House met, in 1860, after a brief 
struggle, the ministry resigned, and a Eeform Government 

came into power with Mr. Wil- 
liam Young as leader. The visit 
of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, 
was celebrated with loyal enthu- 
siasm. The province continued 
to develop its internal resources, 
especially its coal-mines. At the 
general election of 1863, the 
Eeform Government was again 
defeated, and compelled to resign. 
Mr. J. W. Johnson again became 
the leader of a Conservative 
ministry. In 1864, Sir Eichard 
Graves MacDonnell succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor the 
Earl of Mulgrave, who had retired from office. 

The parliamentary session of 1864, was memorable for two 
important measures introduced by Dr. Tupper. The first of 
these was a bill re-organizing the school-system of the prov- 
ince, and greatly increasing the efficiency of the public schools. 
Provision was made for assessments for school purposes, public 




SIR R. G. MACDOKNELL. 



* It was composed of J. W. Johnson, Attorney-General ; Dr. Charles Tupper, 
Provincial Secretary ; Jolin J. Marshall, Financial Secretary ; Staley Brown, 
Receiver-General, and Martin W. WUkins, Solicitor-General. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 1834-1867. 



497 




HON. DR. CHARLES TUPPER. 



aid was granted to schools in sparsely settled neighbourhoods, 
and that great source of national prosperity, elementary educa- 
tion, was wisely encouraged. 

The second important meas- 
ure was a series of resolu- 
tions providing for a union of 
the maritime provinces. This 
movement was soon merged in 
the more comprehensive one 
for the federation of all the 
provinces, and the formation 
of the present Dominion. This 
project had long engaged the 
attention of British and colo- 
nial statesmen. The remark- 
able growth and prosperity of 
the United States after their 
union under one federal gov- 
ernment, suggested the inquiry whether the union of the 
remaining British provinces, by removing commercial restric- 
tions, and promoting intercolonial trade and intercourse, would 
not produce similar benefits. 

Dr. Tupper's resolutions resulted in the holding of the Char- 
lottetown Conference, in September, 1864. We have already 
recorded the important consequences of the conference, and of 
the Quebec Conference by which it was followed. The confed- 
eration scheme, received with favour in Canada, met with 
violent opposition in all the maritime provinces. It was argued 

* The Hon. Charles Tupper, M. D., is a member of an old U. E. Loyalist 
family, connected with the family of the late Sir Isaac Brock. His father was 
the Eev. Charles Tupper, D. D., of Aylesford, N. S. He was horn at Amherst, 
N. S., in 1821. He graduated in medicine at Edinburgh University in 1843. 
He was a member of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia from 1857 to 1860, 
and from 1864 to July 1, 1867, during the latter part of which time he was 
Premier. He was a delegate to the Confederation Conferences, and was created 
C. B. (Civil) by Her Majesty, 1867. In 1870, he became President of the Privy 
Council of Canada ; in 1872, Minister of Internal Eevenue, and, in February, 
1873, Minister of Customs. He resigned with Sir John A. Macdonald's ministry 
in November, 1873. 



498 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

that the delegates, who were empowered to negotiate a legisla- 
tive union of the seaboard provinces, had surpassed their 
authority in negotiating the wider federal union of all the prov- 
inces. It was also asserted that no adequate compensation was 
received for the surrender of the revenue of the lower prov- 
inces, which were dependent on the local Governments for local 
improvements. The anti-confederate feeling in Nova Scotia 
was strong. The delegates in vain endeavoured, by argument 
and eloquence, to popularize the movement. Mr. Howe, for- 
getful of his avowed union sentiments, inveighed with tongue 
and pen against confederation. The Government, however, 
continued faithful to the pledges given at the Quebec Confer- 
ence. A re-action in favour of confederation having taken place 
in New Brunswick, delegates were appointed in Nova Scotia, 
and in that province, to co-operate with the Canadian delegates 
at London, during the winter of 1866-67, in perfecting the 
plan of the federal union of all the provinces. Mr. Howe was 
there to oppose the scheme, but his influence was powerless to 
prevent its consummation. It received, however, certain 
modifications, chiefly in the way of increasing the subsidies to 
the local governments. These negotiations resulted in their 
agreement to the terms of the British North America Act, 
which united the four provinces into the Dominion of Canada. 



NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784-1831. 499 



CHAPTER XLH. 

NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784-1831. 

Organization of Government — Colonel Thomas Carleton, Governor, 1784 — 
St. John Incorporated, 1785 — Frcdericton, the Capital — Political Strife 

— The Timber-Trade — Great Fire at Miramichi — The Disputed Territories 

— Border Troubles — Baltic Timber Dues; 

NEW BEUNSWICK, as we have seen, was set apart as a 
separate province in 1784. Colonel Thomas Carleton, 
brother of Lord Dorchester, became the first Governor. He 
had commanded a regiment during the Revolutionary "War, and 
was deservedly popular with the loyalists. He arrived at Parr- 
town on Sunday, November 21, and the new province was pro- 
claimed the following day. The Government consisted of a 
Council of twelve members, which, with the Governor, pos- 
sessed both executive and legislative functions ; and a House of 
Assembly of twenty-six members. The first Council was 
composed chiefly of United Empire Loyalists, several of whom 
had been men of distinction in the revolted colonies. Promi^- 
nent among these were Chief Justice Ludlow, who had been a 
Judge of the Supreme Court of New York ; Judge Upham, a 
graduate of Harvard and loyalist colonel of dragoons ; Judge 
Allen and Judge Winslow, both colonels in the loyalist army ; 
James Putnam, one of the ablest lawyers in America; and 
others who had abandoned large estates in the old colonies. On 
the death of Judge Putnam, Judge Saunters, of an old Cavalier 
family in Virginia, entered the Council, which, with this change, 
continued to conduct the Government for several years. 

In 1785, Parrtown became incorporated as the city of St. 
John. It was thus the first, and, for many years, the only, 
incorporated city in British North America. The first session 
of the House of Assembly was held in St. John in 1786, but 
two years later, the seat of government was transferred to 



500 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Fredericton, eighty-five miles up the St. John Eiver, as being 
more central to the province, and in order to secure immunity 
from hostile attack and from the factious or corrupting influence 
of the more populous commercial metropolis, St. John. This 
change was said to be an imitation of the policy of the State of 
New York, from which many of the loyalist refugees had 
come, which, for similar reasons, had transferred its legislature 
to Albany, one hundred and fifty miles up the Hudson from 
New York city. 

The peace and harmony which were anticipated from this 
removal from disturbing influences did not, however, result. 
The irrepressible conflict between the popular Assembly and 
the Executive Council, which took place in the other provinces, 
was destined to occur also in New Brunswick. The first difier- 
ence arose on the question of the appropriation of revenues. 
The Assembly voted to its members the payment of seven and 
sixpence per day for the session. The Governor and Council 
resisted the appropriation, as derogatory to the dignity of the 
House. The Assembly asserted its constitutional right to con- 
trol the revenues — which was the j)oint of contention in all the 
provinces. It therefore "tacked" this special vote to the 
appropriation bill for the general expenses of the province — 
the maintenance of roads, bridges, schools, and the like. The 
Colonial Secretary, on appeal, gave judgment against the 
Assembly, and condemned their policy of ' ' tacking " the 
obnoxious bill to that of the general appropriation for the year. 
The Assembly, however, stood firm, and for three years (1796- 
1799) no revenue and appropriation bills were passed. The 
dead-lock between the two branches of the legislature was 
removed by their mutual concessions. The Assembly agreed 
to include all the items to which the Council agreed, in one bill, 
and the Council agreed to pass the salary bill. 

For nearly twenty years Colonel Carleton administered the 
afiairs of the province with great tact and ability, but not with- 
out occasional collisions with the Assembly, which seemed to be 
the inevitable fate of Colonial Governors in those days. Under 
his rule, the trade of the province was greatly developed. This 



NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784-1831. 501 

was especially true of the lumber-trade. As early as 1778, the 
magnificent timber on the St. John and Miramichi rivers 
attracted English enterprise and capital. In 1781, Jonathan 
Leavitt launched at St. John the pioneer vessel of the vast fleet 
of New-Brunswick-built ships which subsequently sailed from 
that port. The timber-trade was greatly fostered by the 
demands of the royal fleets. The stately pines of the New 
Brunswick forests, each fit "to be the mast of some great 
admiral," bore the pennon of Great Britain in many a stern 
sea-fight. Immigration to the country was also fostered by the 
certainty of a profitable return-cargo. 

After the retirement of Colonel Carleton in 1803, the govern- 
ment was administered for several years by Presidents of the 
Executive Council, first, by the Hon. Gabriel Ludlow, and 
then by eludge Edward Winslow. As the prospect of war vsdth 
the United States became more imminent, military officers of 
high rank and large experience were appointed to the govern- 
ment of the several provinces. Major-General Hunter for a 
time administered the afiairs of New Brunswick. He was fol- 
lowed in rapid succession by six other military Presidents. The 
progress of the war stimulated the trade of the colony. The 
timber-trade was greatly promoted by the increased demand 
for shipping, and especially in consequence of the heavy duty 
imposed on Baltic pine. This more than counterbalanced the 
alarm caused by American privateers hovering on the coast and 
preying on the unprotected shipping. The loyalty and military 
spirit of the colony was shown by the mustering into the regular 
army for service in the upper provinces, of the King's Eegiment 
of New Brunswick. This regiment, except a part despatched 
by water, marched on snow-shoes through the wintry woods to 
Canada, and served with great gallantry during the war. 

The administration of the government by military Presidents, 
who manifested little interest in the civil afiairs of the province, 
was a cause of much dissatisfaction. The Assembly, therefore, 
petitioned repeatedly for the appointment of a regular Lieuten- 
ant-Governor. The Home authorities, therefore, in 1818, 
appointed Major-General George Tracy Smythe to administer 



502 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

the government. The irrepressible conflict between the two 
branches of the legislature with reference to the control of the 
revenues became again the occasion of acrimonious disputes, 
resulting in a dead-lock. The Governor dissolved the House, 
which made the new parliament for a time more tractable. In 
1823 Governor Smythe died, and was succeeded the following 
year by Sir Howard Douglas. In the interim, the government 
was administered by Judge Chipman, and on his death by the 
Hon. James Murray Bliss. The right to this position was un- 
successfully contested by the Hon. Christopher Billop, notwith- 
standing his extreme age. He was eighty-six years old. 

The first census of New Brunswick was taken in this year, 
and gave a population to the province of 74,000. The lumber- 
ing and ship-building interests, however, absorbed almost the 
entire energies of the people to the serious neglect of agricub 
ture, so that the population were largely dependent on foreign 
breadstuffs for the means of subsistence. Governor Douglas 
greatly promoted the internal development of the province, the 
construction of roads and the cultivation of the soil. He en- 
couraged also the cause of higher education, and through his 
efforts the University of King's College, Fredericton, was estab- 
lished. 

In the autumn of 1825, a terrible disaster overwhelmed the 
province. A long drought had parched the forest to tinder. 
For two months not a drop of rain had fallen, and the streams 
were shrunken to rivulets. Numerous fires had laid waste the 
woods and farms, and filled the air with stifling smoke.- The 
Government House at Fredericton was burned. But a still 
greater calamity was impending. On the 7th of October, a 
storm of flame swept over the country for sixty miles — from 
Miramichi to the Bay of Chaleurs. A pitchy darkness covered 
the sky, lurid flames swept over the earth, consuming the forest, 
houses, barns, crops, and the towns of Newcastle and Douglas, 
with several ships upon the stocks. Resistance was in vain and 
escape almost impossible. The only hope of eluding the tornado 
of fire was to plunge into the rivers and marshes, and to cower 
in the water or ooze till the waves of flame had passed. The 



NEW BRUNSWICK, 1784-1831. 503 

roar of the ^vincl and fire, the crackling and crashing of the 
pines, the bellowing of the terrified cattle, and the glare of the 
conflagration were an assemblage of horrors sufficient to appall 
the stoutest heart. When that fatal night had passed, the 
thriving towns, villages and farms over an area of five thousand 
square miles were a charred and blackened desolation. A mil- 
lion dollars' worth of accumulated property was consumed, and 
the loss of timber was incalculable. One hundred and sixty 
persons perished in the flames or in their efibrts to escape, and 
hundreds were maimed for life. The generous aid of the sister 
provinces, and of Great Britain and the United States, greatly 
mitigated the suflerings of the hapless inhabitants, made home- 
less on the eve of a rigorous winter. 

Some excitement was subsequently occasioned by a fiUibuster- 
ing raid across the frontier, between Maine and New Brunswick, 
for the purpose of claiming a portion of the disputed territory 
as belonging to the United States. The question was one which 
had caused much trouble ever since the Eevolutionary War. Suc- 
cessive commissions had been appointed to settle the bounda- 
ries, but a region of about twelve thousand square miles on the 
head-waters of the Aroostook, Allagash and Walloostook, trib- 
utaries of the St. John, was claimed by each country. In 1827, 
a gasconading braggart named Baker made a dash into the 
Madawaska district and raised the " stars and stripes" in asser- 
tion of the American ownership of the soil. The British loyal- 
ists and French settlers promptly resented the intrusion. 
Governor Douglas advanced a body of troops to the frontier 
and directed the sheriff to arrest the fillibustering chief. The 
sheriff captured the flag and lodged Baker a prisoner in the jail 
at Fredericton. He was brought to trial and fined for his 
offence. The Governor of Maine called out the militia, and 
threatened the invasion of New Brunswick for the alleged vio- 
lation of international peace. The royal troops were on the 
alert, and a single hasty act might have plunged the two coun- 
tries into war. The two Governments, however, agreed to sub- 
mit the question in dispute to the King of the Netherlands, and 
so the excitement gradually died out. 



504 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The commercial development of New Brunswick had been 
very rapid. Her timber-trade and ship-building industry had 
been fostered by the exclusion of the Americans from the 
British West Indies. An important trade between those islands 
and the maritime provinces had grown up ; sugar, molasses, 
and, we are sorry to say, rum, being exchanged in large quan- 
tities for timber and fish. In 1830, however, the West India 
trade was thrown open to American shipping, greatly to the 
prejudice of the British colonies. The principles of free trade 
were being extensively adopted in Great Britain, one obnoxious 
feature after another in the tariff being assailed and removed. 
The repeal of the Baltic timber duties, under which the New 
Brunswick trade had flourished, was strongly urged by the Brit- 
ish consumers. Apprehensions of commercial ruin agitated the 
province. The Assembly sent urgent petitions against the repeal 
of the Baltic dues. Sir Howard Douglas was in England at the 
time, giving evidence on the subject of the disputed territory. 
He ably supported the efforts of the province. In a timely pam- 
phlet, he urged the impolicy of repealing the duties in the face 
of the depression caused by the Mirimachi fire and the loss of 
the West India trade. The repeal bill was therefore defeated. 
New Brunswick manifested her gratitude to the Governor by the' 
gift of a handsome service of plate. Sir Howard Douglas, how- 
ever, felt constrained to resign his office, as his fidelity to the 
interests of the province placed him in opposition to the Govern- 
ment which had appointed him. His resignation was accepted, 
and Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell was appointed his 
successor, 1831. 



I^EW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. 605 



CHAPTER XLin. 

^W BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. 

Sir Alexander Campbell, Governor, 1831 — Crown-land Grievances — Redressed 
by the Crown — Lemuel Allan Wilinot, a Popular Tribune — Struggle for 
Responsible Government — It is granted by Sir Jobu Harvey, 1337 — The 
Boundary Dispute — Tlireatened Outbreak on Maine Frontier — Tbe Asbbur- 
ton Treaty, 1842 — Responsible Government Confirmed, 1348 — Domestic 
Policy — Confederation Negotiations. 

THE inevitable struggle for responsible government took 
jDlace ill New Brunswick, as well as in the other prov- 
inces. In the maritime provinces, however, the strife was 
never embittered by the unhappy appeal to arms as in the two 
Canadas. The ''Family Compact," in New Brunswick, was 
neither so powerful nor so exclusive, as in the other provinces, 
and more fully represented the interests of the people. 

Sir Alexander Campbell, the Lieutenant-Governor, like his 
namesake in Nova Scotia, was an officer of stern military 
instincts, and an unflinching champion of the prerogatives of 
the crown against the encroachments of popular liberty. In 
1832, the Legislative Council was separated from the Executive 
Council, but the latter still remained an exclusive oligarchy, 
irresponsible to the people, and indifferent to public opinion. 
The crown-land department, it was alleged, favoured the great 
capitalists and lumber operators, to the disadvantage of the 
poorer classes. The chief commissioner was appointed by the 
crown, and was completely independent of parliamentary con- 
trol. The Government also possessed sufficient * ' casual and 
territorial revenue " to defray all the expenses of the civil list. 
The Assembly was thus deprived of any means of control, by 
means of a money-vote, over the Administration. In 1832, it 
requested, by resolution, a return of the receipts and expendi- 
tures of the crown-land fund. The request was discourteously 
refused. The Assembly, thereupon, appointed delegates to lay 

64 



506 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

at the foot of the throne a prayer for the control of the crown- 
land revenue. Mr. Stanley, the Colonial Secretary, promised 
a redress of the grievances, but the Governor and Council still 
refused to made the surrender. 

The Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Land Company, com- 
posed of English capitalists, formed in 1831, and incorporated 
in 1834, caused grave dissatisfaction through its land monopoly. 
It received a grant of 500,000 acres, between the St. John and 
Miramichi rivers, for the sum of £56,000, of which £21,000 
was paid down. It offered liberal inducements to settlers, 
military and civil ; but the Assembly objected to the alienation 
of so large a jjroportion of the public lands without its consent 
asked or received. A champion of the rights of the people 
now appeared, who was destined to lead his country into the 
enjoyment of constitutional liberty. Lemuel Allan Wilmot 
was descended from United Empire Loyalist stock, and was 
naturally allied to the party in power. He won a brilliant 
reputation as a lawyer ; and especially for his eloquence and 
skill as leader of the Reform party in the Assembly. During 
the parliamentary session of 1836, Mr. Wilmot moved an 
address to the Governor for a detailed return of the crown-land 
fund. Sir Archibald submitted a mere general statement. 
The Assembly sent Messrs. Wilmot and Crane to England to 
request that the control of the public revenues be vested in the 
representatives of the people. The King favoured the prayer 
of the Assembly. Lord Glenelg, Colonial Secretary, instructed 
the Governor and Executive Council to surrender the casual 
and territorial revenue in consideration of the granting by the 
Assembly of a liberal permanent civil-list. Notwithstanding 
continuous and strenuous opposition, the Government was 
obliged to yield, and the immense crown-land revenues came 
uuder the direct control of the people's representatives. The 
sturdy Governor, however, declined to sign the obnoxious civil- 
list bill. His resignation was, therefore, accepted, and Sir 
John Harvey was appointed as his successor, 1837. Under the 
conciliatory policy and constitutional rule of the new Governor, 
harmony was at length restored between all the branches of the 



NEW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867 507 

legislature. Mr. Crane was called to the Executive Council. 
Mr. Wilmot was made a Queen's Counsellor. Lord Glenelg's 
portrait was placed above the Speaker's chair in the Assembly 
Chamber at Fredericton, where it still hangs, — a commemora- 
tion of the triumph of the principle of responsible government 
in the province of New Brunswick. 

The dispute as to the New Brunswick frontier was not yet 
settled. The King of the Netherlands, to whom the decision 
had been referred, had given the lion's share of the debatable 
ground to the United States. That country, however, refused 
to be bound by the award. Lawless persons invaded the dis- 
j)uted territory to cut timber ; armed collisions occurred ; and 
the frontier settlements were ablaze with excitement. Gov- 
ernor Fairfield of Maine, ordered eighteen hundred militia to 
the border, and called upon the State for ten thousand men, — 
horse, foot, and artillery. Sir John Harvey, the Governor of 
New Brunswick, asserted by proclamation the right of Great 
Britain to protect the disputed territory, and sent two regi- 
ments to watch the Maine militia. Volunteers flocked to the 
British standard. The legislature of Nova Scotia, amid an 
unwonted scene of patriotic enthusiasm, and with an outburst 
of hearty British cheers, voted £100,000 for the defence of the 
frontier, and placed a strong force of militia at the disposal of 
the military authorities. 

Considerable excitement was roused in the United States. 
That belligerent statesman, Daniel Webster, declared that the 
American government should seize the disputed property unless 
Great Britain would abide by the treaty of 1783. President 
Van Buren, however, with praiseworthy moderation, advocated 
the peaceable arrangement of the difficulty. General Winfield 
Scott was sent to the borders to settle the dispute. He coun- 
termanded all hostile demonstrations, and opened a friendly 
correspondence with the British Governor, who had been an 
old antagonist at Stony Creek and Lundy's Lane. 

Both parties now withdrew from the contest, and referred 
the matter to Lord Ashburtou and Daniel Webster, as commis- 
sioners for their respective countries. The award, given in 



508 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

1842, yielded the larger and more valuable territory to the 
United States, to the intense chagrin of the colonists, who con- 
ceived that their rights were sacrificed to Imperial interests. 
The Ashburton treaty also fixed the forty-fifth parallel of lati- 
tude as the dividing line westward from the disputed territory 
to the St. Lawrence, and the forty-ninth parallel as the bound- 
ary from the Lake of the Woods to the Gulf of Georgia, on 
the Pacific. The central line of the great lakes and their con- 
necting rivers completed the boundary. An important article 
of the treaty also provided for the extradition, from either 
country, upon sufficient evidence of criminality, of persons 
charged with " murder, piracy, arson, robbery, or forgery." 

Sir John Harvey, whose administration had been very har- 
monious and popular, was re-called in 1841, and was succeeded 
by Sir William Colebrooke. He found the country sufiering 
from financial embarrassment, through a temporary depression 
of the timber-trade. The public revenue, for a time, fell off, 
and, as anticipated by Sir Archibald Campbell, the Assembly, 
on obtaining control of the casual and territorial fund, had 
frittered it away by reckless votes, and thus injured the credit 
of the province. A Conservative re-action took place, and the 
Reform party was generally beaten at the polls in the election 
of 1842. Serious election riots also occurred, which had to be 
suppressed by military authority. The city of St. John 
suffered much from destructive fires and from severe commer- 
cial depression. Much excitement and very disastrous con- 
sequences resulted from the bitter strife of the Eoman CathoKc 
and Orange factions. This culminated in a desperate riot on 
1842. the 12th of July. Several persons were killed and 
many more wounded, and fellow-citizens were divided into hos- 
tile camps on account of differences as to their religion, the 
common teachings of which were of peace on earth and good- 
will to men. 

Although the Conservative Assembly had endorsed the claim 
of the Governor to make crown appointments independent of 
popular control, yet it strenuously objected to his first appoint- 
ment, that of his son-in-law, Mr. Reade, to be Provincial Sec- 



NEW BRUNSWICK, 1831-1867. 509 

retary, on the death, in 1844, of the Hon. Wm. Odell, who had 
held that office since 1818.* Mr. Wilmot urged the constitu- 
tional principle that the ministers of the crown should be 
directly responsible to the people. The Assembly, however, 
was not prepared for its adoption. In 1847, Earl Gray, the 
Colonial Secretary, in a despatch to Sir John Harvey, Governor 
of Nova Scotia, had defined the theory of responsible govern- 
ment regarded at the Colonial Office as applicable to the 
l^rovinces. He laid down the principles that the Executive 
Councillors, who directed the policy of the Government, should 
hold office only while they retained the confidence of the House, 
and that all Government officials should be excluded from either 
branch of the Legislature. It was deemed by the Reform party 
of New Brunswick a fitting occasion to introduce these sound 
principles into the government of that province. In the session 
of 1848, therefore, Mr. Charles Fisher introduced a resolution, 
asserting their application as the rule of the province. The 
resolution was carried, by a union of both parties, with a 
large majority, and responsible government was fully and 
finally established in New Brunswick. 

Sir William Colebrooke was this year appointed Governor of 
British Guiana. He was succeeded in New Brunswick by Sir 
Edmund Walker Head, who was the first civilian regularly 
appointed as the Queen's representative in the province. Under 
his administration, the country continued to prosper, developing 
her internal resources and extending her foreign commerce. 

In 1853 was consecrated Christ Church Cathedral, Frederic- 
ton. The diocese of Nova Scotia originally included all the 
British possessions on the continent. It was subsequently 
divided by the formation of the bishoprics of Quebec, Toronto, 
and Newfoundland. In 1845, New Brunswick was separated 
from the parent see, and the Rev. John Medley, D. D., Pre- 
bendary of Exeter Cathedral, became first bishop of Frederic- 
ton. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel greatly 

* His father, the Hon. and Eer. Jonathan Odell, was the first Provincial 
Secretary of New Brunswick. Father and son held the office for the long 
period of sixty years. 



510 



HISTORY OF CAJSTADA. 



fostered and stimulated the growth of the Anglican Church 
in the province of New Brunswick. The Cathedral Church 
is one of the most chaste and elegant examples of ecclesiasti- 
cal architecture in the 
Dominion.* 

In 1854, the Hon. J. 
H. T. Manncrs-Sutton 
became Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of New Brunswick, 
vice Sir Edmund Walker 
Head promoted to the 
Governor-Generalship of 
Canada. Public atten- 
tion continued for several 
years to be occupied with 
the project of the Inter- 
colonial Railway, and 
with the agitations which 
its varied vicissitudes 
produced. Delegates 
were sent to England, to 
the United States, and to 
Canada ; but while rail- 
way construction within the province was extended, the larger 
scheme received indefinite postponement. It required the 
political union of the provinces to bring about the construction 
of this essential bond of commercial and social intercourse. 

Considerable irritation was felt at the interference of the Home 
Colonial Office in what were considered matters of domestic 
concern. A trade protection party in the Assembly introduced 
a protective tariff in favour of home industries, and voted 
bounties to the fishing interests. This being opposed to the 
free-trade policy of Great Britain, called forth a vigorous pro- 
test from Lord Gray, the Colonial Secretary. The Assembly 

* It cost OTcr $80,000, and was consecrated free of debt — principally through 
the liberality of bountiful friends in England. Its seats are all free and un- 
reserved, as are those of sixty-four other churches in the diocese. , 







CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, FREDERICTON, N. B. 



NE W BR UNS WICK, 1831-1867. 611 

became exceedingly re&tive under what it called the " despotism 
of Downing Street," but the more Conservative Council rejected 
the bounty bill, and thus brought about the re-action of quiet. 

The visit of the Prince of "Wales, in 18G0, called forth the 
patriotism of the people. The city of the U. E. Loyalists 
worthily sustained the reputation of its founders by the enthu- 
siastic welcome it gave the heir-apparent to the British crown. 
Nor was that patriotism less loyally manifested the following 
year, when the agitations arising out of the "Trent affair" 
threatened the rupture of peace between Great Britain and the 
United States. During the winter, when the navigation of the 
St. Lawrence was closed, a portion of the British troops, in- 
tended for the defence of Canada, were forwarded on sledges, 
with their stores and materiel of war, through the snow-laden 
forests of New Brunswick — another demonstration of the 
jiecessity for an intercolonial railway. 

In 1862, the Hon. A. Gordon succeeded the Hon. J. H. T. 
Manners-Sutton as Governor of New Brunswick. The confed- 
eration scheme of 1864 became the engrossing subject of public 
discussion. The action of the delegates at the Quebec Confer- 
ence was promptly repudiated. The New Brunswick Assembly 
being on the eve of dissolution, it was deemed advisable that a 
new parliament should be elected on the single issue of confed- 
eration. The result was its unmistakable condemnation. Not a 
single member of the Quebec delegation was elected. An anti- 
confederate government was formed, under the Hon. A. J. 
Smith and George L. Hatheway, 1865. The Legislative Coun- 
cil, however, was strongly in favour of the scheme. The influ- 
ence of the Imperial Government was invoked on behalf of 
confederation. At the parliamentary session of 1866, an urgent 
despatch from Mr. Cardwell, the Colonial Secretary, was sub- 
mitted, expressing the strong desire of Her Majesty's Govern- 
ment for the union of the provinces. A dramatic effect was 
given to the discussion by the coincidsnt Fenian invasion of the 
provinces. The Legislative Council passed an address, express- 
ing the desire that the Imperial Government would carry out 
the Quebec scheme. Governor Gordon heartily endorsed their 



512 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

action. The Smith ministry, finding itself opposed to both 
Governor and Council, resigned, and Mr. Tilley was again 
called to the head of affairs . A popular re-action in favour of 
confederation took place. A general election resulted in a large 
majority of supporters of the Tilley administration. Union 
resolutions were triumphantly passed, and Union delegates pro- 
ceeded to London to complete the scheme which should bring 
New Brunswick into the confederation of the British North 
American provinces. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 513 



CHAPTEE XLIV. 

PRINCE EDWAED ISLAND. 

Early History — British Eule, 1763 — Divided hj Lottery, 1767 — Organization 
of Government, 1770 — Quit-rent Claim — Eival Governors, 1786 — Slow 
Development — Change of Name, 1798 — Evils of Absenteeism — Governor 
Smith's Despotic Administration — The Land Question — Arbitration Scheme 
— Confederation Eejected, 1867 — Eailway Construction — Enters Dominion, 
1873 — Land Question Settled. 

PEINCE EDWAED ISLAND, known till 1798 as St. John's 
Island, is supposed to have been discovered by Cabot in 
one of his early voyages. For over two centuries it remained 
uncolonized, save as a French fishing-station. "WTien Acadia 
and Newfoundland were ceded to England by the treaty of 
Utrecht, many of the French inhabitants removed to the fertile 
island of St. John. This population was still further increased, 
on the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755, by fugitives from 
that stern edict. By the treaty of 1763, St. John's Island, 
with the whole of Canada and Cape Breton, passed into the 
possession of the British. It continued to form part of the 
extensive province of Nova Scotia till 1770. It was surveyed 
by Captain Holland, and reported to contain 365,400 acres of 
land, all but 10,000 of which was fit for agriculture. It was 
divided into allotments, which were distributed by the Lords 
of Trade and Plantations, by lottery, among officers of the 
army and navy, and other persons conceived to have claims 
upon the crown, 1767. Certain duties of settlement, and the 
payment of a small annual quit-rent were stipulated ; but 
neither received much practical observance. Most of the 
grantees sold or alienated their land, so that the bulk of it soon 
fell into the hands of a few absentee proprietors. The grantees 
petitioned for separation from Nova Scotia, and for the establish- 
ment of a distinct government. This petition was granted in 
1770, when there were only five resident proprietors, and a 
65 



514 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

hundred and fifty families in the island. Captain William 
Patterson, one of the grantees, was appointed first Governor. 
He arrived in 1770, and three years later the first parliament 
sat in Cha:^lottetown. The Government consisted of a Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, a combined Executive and Legislative Coun- 
cil, and a Legislative Assembly of eighteen members. The 
new province was soon involved in financial difficulties. Its 
revenues were principally derivable from quit-rents ; but, as 
these were not paid, the Governor employed the £3,000 voted 
by the House for public buildings to pay the very moderate 
civil-list. In 1775, two American cruisers pillaged the infant 
capital, and carried off several of its official persons prisoners. 
General Washington, however, disavowed the act, and restored 
the prisoners and plunder. 

The quit-rent claims continued to be the occasion of much 
contention. In 1780, Governor Patterson decided to enforce 
their payment, and a number of estates Were sold for little 
more than the taxes due. The time was inopportune. A great 
war was in progress, and English capitalists would not invest 
in colonial property which might be alienated from the crown 
by the next treaty of peace. The Governor also acquired large 
tracts of the escheated lands for the benefit of himself and his 
friends. The proprietors, therefore, petitioned against his 
action, and the Home authorities, in 1784, disallowed the sales, 
and restored the lands to their previous owners on payment of 
the expenses incurred by the recent purchasers. Governor 
Patterson refused to be guided by the directions of the Colonial 
Office, twice dissolved the House, and, in 1786, in an Assembly 
packed with his friends, confirmed the forced sales under the 
quit-rent claims. The King disallowed the bill, recalled the 
Governor, and appointed Colonel Fanning his successor. A 
struggle for power ensued. Governor Patterson refused to 
yield his authority. Colonel Fanning asserted his ; and, for six 
months, they distracted the island with their rival claims. In 
the spring of 1787, Patterson was peremptorily recalled, and 
retired into obscurity. By a compromise, the escheated lands, 
which had greatly increased in value, remained in the possession 



PRIXCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



515 



of tlieir purchasers, and the quit-rent claims continued still in 
abeyance. 

Colonel Fanning continued to administer the government 
for the prolonged period of eighteen years. The growth of 
population, however, was slow. In 1798, after thirty-five 
years' British occupancy, it amounted to only 4,372. In this 
3"ear, the name of the colony Avas changed, out of compliment 
to Edward, Duke of Kent, to Prince Edward Island. The 
proprietary system, and the apathy of absentee owners, greatly 
retarded its development. Out of sixty new townships, twen- 
ty-three had not a single settler, and twelve more had only 
thirty-six families. The absentee proprietors held the land 
only for speculation. The Assembly, therefore, petitioned the 
King to enforce the conditions of settlement and payment of 
quit-rents, and passed an act re-investing the forfeited land in 
the crown. The proprietary party, however, had sufficient in- 
fluence with the Colonial Office to procure the disallowing of 
the action of the Assembly. A compromise was effected, in 
1802, whereby proprietors having the stipulated number of 
settlers on their land might commute the thirty-two years' quit- 
claim rent now due by a five years' payment. A similar com- 
promise was effected with other proprietors. As a result of 
this arrangement about one-third of the island changed hands 
in the next four years, and active settlement took place. 
Among the most energetic proprietors was the Earl of Selkirk, 
the founder of the Red River Settlement, to be shortly de- 
scribed. During the early years of the century, beginning 
with 1803, he transferred not less than four thousand hardy 
Highlanders from his Scottish estates to this fertile island, and 
contributed vastly to its agricultural development. 

In 1804, Governor Fanning was succeeded in office by 
Colonel Des Barres, whose administration was one of steady 
colonial progress, the war of 1813-14 not perceptibly affecting 
the insular community. In 1813, Mr. Charles Douglas Smith 
became Governor. His administration was one of irresponsible 
and unconstitutional despotism. He seems to have resolved to 
govern without a parUameut. After cavalierly proroguing the 



516 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

House in 1814, he did not summon it again till 1817. Three 
successive parliaments proving intractable, were promptly dis- 
solved. For ten years the province was virtually without par- 
liamentary government. Yet the Governor was emphatically a 
man of action. He attempted the collection of the quit-rents 
by seizure and forced sales. So much property and produce 
were thrown upon the markets, that many farmers were almost 
ruined by their efforts to pay this obnoxious tax, so long fallen 
into desuetude. Public indignation, denied expression through 
parliamentary channels, found vent in tumultuous popular 
assemblies. Charges of mal-administration were formulated 
against the Governor, and sent to England by Mr. Steward, a 
popular tribune, who only escaped imprisonment by precipitate 
flight. The petition of Mr. Steward received prompt consider- 
ation. Governor Smith was recalled, and Colonel Eeady was 
charged with the administration in his place. 

Under Governor Ready, growth of commerce, construction 
of roads, and improvement of agriculture, attested the progress 
of the country. The emancipation of Roman Catholics from 
civil disabilities, 1830, one year after the similar act in Great 
Britain, demonstrated the liberal character of its legislature. 

Colonel Aretus W. Young, who succeeded Governor Ready, 
in 1831, died, greatly respected, in 1835. His successor, 
Colonel Sir John Harvey, was transferred, at the end of a year, 
to the government of New BrunsAvick. Sir Charles A. Fitz Roy, 
who assumed the Governorship in 1837, attempted to grapple 
with the land question. The English landlords were draining 
the land of its wealth, and contributing almost nothing to its 
expenses. The greater portion of the island had been alienated 
to absentee proprietors, who left it in a wilderness state for the 
reversionary interest of its increased value through the labour 
of others. The House proposed a heavy penal tax on wild 
land, and the escheating to the crown of the forfeited estates ;. 
but the Colonial Secretary rejected the proposal. 

From 1841 to 1847, the government of the island was 
administered by Sir Henry Vere Huntley, not without some 
friction with its officials. He was succeeded by Sir Donald 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 517 

Campbell, who was received with enthusiasm by his Highland 
comitr}Tiien. The Assembly had long been desirous for respon- 
sible government, and the control of the public revenues. It 
now offered to grant a sufficient civil-list on their surrender, 
and refused to vote supplies till its demand was conceded. The 
Colonial Office, at length, granted the petition ; but Sir Donald 
Campbell dying, in 1850, it was reserved for his successor. Sir 
Alexander Bannerman, to carry into effect that change of con- 
stitution. Postal and revenue reforms were effected, and in the 
session of 1853, the parliamentary suffrage was made universal. 
In 1854, Sir Dominick Daly became Governor, and, the same 
year, the island entered into the reciprocity treaty with the 
United States, to the great stimulus of its trade and general 
prosperity. "With reference to the land question, the Colonial 
Secretary submitted the consideration, that however improper 
the original lottery-grants, the lapse of nearly a century with 
the uninterrupted inheritance and transfer of these lands, ren- 
dered it impossible to ignore the rights of the present pro- 
prietors, and recommended the purchase of those rights by the 
Government. The Assembly asked an Imperial guarantee of 
the loan of £100,000 for this purpose, but the request was 
declined. 

In 1859, Sir Dominick Daly was succeeded by George Dun- 
das, Esq. The land question still continued to engross pubUc 
attention. Sir Samuel Cunard and other proprietors suggested to 
the Colonial Secretary the appointment of an Imperial commis- 
sion to adjust the conflicting claims of the landlords and tenants 
of the proprietary lands. To this the Assembly agreed, and 
the Hon. Joseph Howe, Hon. J. H. Gray, and John W. Ritchie, 
Esq., were appointed on behalf, respectively, of the tenants, 
the crown, and the proprietors. After exhaustive investigation, 
they recommended the purchase of the proprietary lands * on 
equitable terms, to be fixed by arbitration, and their re-allot- 
ment at as low rates as possible, to the tenants and to new 
settlers. The Assembly accepted the recommendations of the 

* The Government had already purchased two large estates — the WoireH 
and Selkirk estates — embracing 153,000 acres. 



518 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

report, but the Colonial Office, in the interest of the proprietary, 
rejected the report of the commissioners as exceeding their 
authority. Thus this promising plan for the settlement of this 
vexed question fell to the ground. 

To conclude the subject, we will narrate the final adjustment, 
although out of chronological order. When the province 
entered the Dominion of Canada, in 1873, a loan of $800,000 
was guaranteed it to purchase and re-allot these proprietary 
estates. In 1875, commissioners were appointed to determine 
the value of the estates whose sale, under the provisions of the 
Act, was made compulsory. Thus, at length, after long years 
of strenuous endeavour, and at a large money cost, this cen- 
tury-old grievance and incubus upon the prosperity of the prov- 
ince was removed. 

We return to take up the interrupted thread of this colonial 
history. In 1859, Sir Dominick Daly was succeeded as Gov- 
ernor by George Dundas, Esq. The visit of the Prince of 
Wales, in 1860, gave a social and patriotic impulse to the prov- 
ince. The loyalty of the little colony was shown during the 
" Trent" excitement the following year, by its organizing a volun- 
teer force of over a thousand men. To Charlottetown belongs 
the honour of being the birthplace, in a sense, of the confedera- 
tion movement. The conference at that place in 1864, and that 
at Quebec, to which it gave place, have been already described. 
On the return of the Prince Edward Island delegates from 
Quebec, public opinion was found strongly opjjosed to con- 
federation. In the legislative session of 1865, an anti-confed- 
erate resolution was passed by a vote of twenty-three to five, 
and the following session, a stronger one by vote of twenty-one 
to seven. 

To maintain the unity of our account of the province, we 
will continue its history to the period of its admission into the 
Dominionin 1873. In 1870, W. C. F. Robinson, Esq., became 
Governor. The growing internal trade and travel of tlie island, 
and the lack of stone to make macadamized roads, created a 
necessity for railway communication. In the legislative session 
of 1871, a bill was passed for the construction of the Prince 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 5I9 

Edward Island Eailway. But the Government found difficulty 
in raising the money for the undertaking. The province natur- 
ally looked to the Dominion for assistance. A general election 
in 1873 resulted in the return of a legislature favourable to 
union. A deputation visited Ottawa, which effected conditions 
of union mutually acceptable to the Dominion and the province. 
The island surrendered its revenues, and the Dominion assumed 
the cost of the railway, the civil list, and public administration. 
It also advanced the sum of $800,000 to purchase the pro- 
prietary estates, assumed a debt computed at $4,701,050, 
and agreed to pay annually $30,000, and a subsidy of eighty 
cents per head on an estimated population of 94,021. The 
island was to receive a representation of six members in the 
House of Commons and four in the Senate. These terms were 
accej)ted in the Assembly by a vote of twenty-seven to two. 
The union was consummated on July 1, 1873, and was cele- 
brated with great festivities at Charlottetown. 



520 HISTORY OF CANADA, 



CHAPTER XLV. 

CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISHED. 

The Britisli North America Act passes the Imperial Parliament, March 28, 1867 
— Provisions of the New Constitution — The Dominion Parliament — Legis- 
lative Representation — Respective Jurisdiction of the Dominion and Prov- 
inces — The Judiciary — Customs, etc. — Local Legislatures — Inauguration 
of the New Constitution, July 1 — Titles of Honour Conferred — First 
Cabinet — Elections — Failure of Commercial Bank — Assassination of 
Thomas D'Arcy McGee, M. P., April 7, 1868 — Sir John Young, Governor- 
General, vice Lord Monck — Anti-Confederation Agitation in Nova Scotia — 
Petitions for Repeal of the Union — Petitions Refused — "Better Terms" 
Granted Nova Scotia — Hon. Joseph Howe enters Dominion Cabinet. 

IjN" the maritime provinces, as we have seen, the tide of popu- 
lar feeling had now turned strongly in favour of confed- 
eration. In New Brunswick, the anti-confederation Govern- 
ment was compelled to resign, and a new parliament, elected 
with express reference to this question, declared decidedly for 
it. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Howe's eloquence in condemnation of 
the scheme lost its spell, and his opposition in the lobbies of the 
Imperial parliament proved equally futile. The Canadian and 
maritime delegates met in London, in December, 1866, to con- 
clude the terms of the union. They sat continuously at the West- 
minster Palace Hotel, from the 4th to the 24th of the month. 
The result of the conference was the slight modification of the 
provisions of the Quebec Eesolutions, chiefly in the direction 
of increasing the subsidies to the local governments. The 
resolutions were transmitted to the Colonial Secretary, and 
upon them was based the Imperial legislation designed to give 
efiect to the union. 

On the 7th of February, the Earl of Carnarvon, the Colonial 
1867. Secretary, introduced the British North America Act 
into the House of Lords. After slight modification in the 
House of Commons, it successfully passed through its difierent 



CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISHED. 521 

stages, and, on the 28th of March, received the royal assent, 
and became the law of the empire. The following day was 
passed the Canada Railway Loan Act, which empowered the 
Imperial Government to guarantee a loan of three million 
pounds sterling for the construction of the Intercolonial Rail- 
way, now become a political, as well as a commercial and 
military necessity for the new nationality. 

The Act of Union provides that the Dominion of Canada, as 
the new nation was named, should consist of the provinces of 
Upper and Lower Canada (designated, respectively, Ontario, 
and Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, the exist- 
ing limits of which were to continue undisturbed. Provision 
was also made for the future admission of Prince Edward 
Island, the Hudson Bay's Territory, British Columbia, and 
Newfoundland, with its dependency, Labrador. 

The following are the chief provisions of the new constitu- 
tion : — 

The executive authority is vested in the Queen, in whose 
name run all legislative acts, civil processes, and naval and 
military proclamations. 

The Queen's representative in Canada is the Governor-Gen- 
eral, who is advised and aided by a Privy Council of thirteen 
members, afterward increased to fourteen, constituting the 
ministry, who must be sustained by a parliamentary majority. 

The parliament consists of two chambers, the Senate and the 
House of Commons. 

The Senate was at first to be composed of seventy-two mem- 
bers, — twenty-four for each of the three divisions, Ontario, 
Quebec, and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. On the admis- 
sion of Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia, 
that number was increased to seventy-eight, and may be still 
further increased to a maximum of eighty-two on the admission 
of Newfoundland. The members are appointed by the Gov- 
ernor-General in Council, representing the crown, and hold 
their seats for life, subject to forfeiture in case of bankruptcy, 
conviction of crime, treason, or taking the oath of allegiance 
to any foreign power, or if they shall cease to possess the 

66 



522 niSTORT OF CANADA. 

necessary property qualification, — the possession of real estate 
to the value of four thousand dollars, and residence in the 
province (or, if inhal)itants of Quebec, in the district) for 
which they are appointed. 

The Speaker of the Senate is appointed by the crown. He 
may vote on all questions, but when the House is equally 
divided, he can only give a negative vote. 

The House of Commons, as first constituted, consisted of 
one hundred and eighty-one members : eighty-two for Ontario ; 
sixty-five for Quebec ; nineteen for Nova Scotia, and sixteen 
for Kew Brunswick. On the re-adjustment of representation 
in accordance with the census of 1871, after the admission of 
Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British Columbia, the 
number of representatives was increased to two hundred and 
six. 

This representation is subject to future re-adjustment on the 
following basis : sixty-five members is to be the fixed number 
for Quebec ; the increased representation of the other prov- 
inces is to bear the same proportion to their population as 
sixty-five bears to that of Quebec. The House of Commons is 
elected for five years unless sooner dissolved. It elects its 
own Speaker, who can vote only when the House is equally 
divided. The debates may be in either English or French ; but 
the proceedings are to be recorded in both languages. The 
property qualification of members was fixed at five hundred 
pounds sterling, as was also that for members of the local 
legislatures of Ontario and Quebec. 

All bills affecting taxation or revenue must originate in the 
House of Commons, and must be recommended by a message 
from the Governor-General. Bills may receive the assent of 
the Governor-General directly as representing the Queen, or 
may be reserved for Her Majesty's pleasure. 

The jurisdiction of the Dominion parliament extends over 

the public debt, expenditure and public loans ; treaties ; cus- 

v toms and excise duties ; trade and commerce ; navigation, 

shipping, and fisheries ; lighthouses and harbours ; the postal, 

naval, and military services ; public statistics ; monetary insti- 



CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISHED. 



523 



tutions, banks, banking, currency, coining, and insolvency; 
criminal law, marriage, and divorce; public works, railways, 
and canals. Where there is common jurisdiction with the local 
legislatures, as in the encouragement of immigration and a"-ri- 
culture, the Acts of the Dominion parliament are of paramount 
authority, and can, in case of antagonism, supersede the 
ordinances of the inferior legislatures. 

The appointment and maintenance of the Judges of the 
Superior, District, and County Courts of the several provinces, 
is the prerogative and duty of the Governor in Council. The 
Judges hold office for life, or till forfeiture for mis(?onduct; 
and are selected from the bars of their respective provinces. 

The duties and revenues of the several provinces form a 
consolidated revenue fund, out of which the cost of the public 
service is defrayed, as well as the subsidies to the provinces, 
and the specified portions of their debt assumed by the Domin- 
ion, and special appropriations. All revenues derived from 
public lands, timber limits, mines, and minerals, belong to the 
several provinces in which they are situated. Between all the 
provinces of the Dominion there is free trade in all their natural 
products, raw or manufactured. 

The chief executive officer of the several provinces is the 
Lieutenant-Governor, who is appointed by the Governor-Gen- 
eral in Council, acting for the crown, for the term of five 
years. The local legislatures were gi-anted constitutions agree- 
able to the wishes of the respective provinces. 

The legislature of Ontario consists of only one chamber, the 
Legislative Assembly. It was constituted at first with eighty- 
two members, which number was afterwards increased to 
eighty-eight, elected for four years. 

The other local legislatures consist of two chambers, a Legis- 
lative Council and Legislative Assembly.* The Acts of the 
local legislatures may be disallowed by the Governor-General, 
for sufficient reason, within a year after they have passed. 
The local legislatures have jurisdiction over direct taxation; 

The GoverDDient of Mauitoba was organized with a second chamber, whicli 
■waa afterwarda abolished. 



524 niSTORT OF Canada. • 

provincial loans ; the appointment and maintenance of provin- 
cial officers ; the management of provincial lands, prisons, 
hospitals, and asylums ; municipal institutions ; local improve- 
ments ; education, and matters affecting property and civil 
rights. 

On the first of July, by royal proclamation, the Act of Con- 
federation came into force, and with the parental blessing of 
the mother country, the Dominion of Canada set forth on its 
high career. On that day the new constitution was formally 
inauofurated at Ottawa, and Lord Monck was sworn in as the 
Governor-General of the confederated provinces. He after- 
wards signalized Her Majestj^'s approval of the union by con- 
ferring titles of honour on its chief promoters. The Hon. 
John A. Macdonald, the first premier, received the dignity 

of knighthood, and the Hon. 
Messrs. Cartier, Gait, Howland, 
Macdougall, Tupper, and Tilley, 
that of Companion of the Bath. 
Sir N. F. Belleau became Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of Quebec, and 
Major-General Doyle, Lieutenant- 
Governor of Nova Scotia. Mili- 
tary officers administered the gov- 
ernment of the other provinces till 
July, 1868, when the Hon. L. A. 

SIR N. P. BELLEAU.* __^„ , • j. 1 T • j. x 

W ilmot was appomted Lieutenant- 
Governor of New Brunswick, and the Hon. W. P. Howland, 
Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. 

The first Privy Council of the Dominion consisted of the 
following members : 

Hon. A. J. F. Blair, . . . President. 

Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, . Minister of Justice. 

* The Hon. Narcissus Fortunat Belleau, Kt., -was horn at Quehec, in 1808, and 
was educated at the Quebec Seminary. He was mayor of the city from 1850- 
1853. He was a member of the Legislative and Executive Councils of Canada, 
and successively Minister of Agriculture and Eeceiver-General, holding the 
latter office in his own administration (Belleau-Macdonald Government), at 
the union of the provinces. He was knighted by the Prince of "Wales, 1860. 




CONFEDERATION ACCOMPLISHED. 



525 



Hon. H. L. Langevin, . 
Hon. A. T. Gait, . 
Hon. W. Macdougall, . 
Hon. Alexander Campl)ell, 
Hon. J. C. Chapais, 
Hon. E. Kenny, . 
Hon. Sir George E. Cartier, 
Hon. S. L. Tilley, . 
Hon. W. P. Plowland, . 
Hon. P. Mitchell, . 
Hon. A. G. Archibald, . 



. Secretary of State of Canada. 

, Minister of Finance. 

. Minister of Public Works. 

. Postmaster-General. 

. Minister of Agriculture. 

. Eeceiver-General. 

. Minister of Militia. 

. Minister of Customs. 

. Minister of Inland Revenue. 

. Minister of Marine and Fisheries. 

. Secretary of State for the Provinces. 



The elections for the Dominion parliament and for the several 
local legislatures took place during the summer. The Dominion 
parliament met at Ottawa for the transaction of business on 
the 7th of November. It was soon apparent that the new order 
of things was not regarded by all the provinces with unmixed 
satisfaction. A period of financial depression through which 
the country was passing, the severity of which was augmented 
by the suspension of the Commercial Bank, one of the oldest 
monetary institutions of the country, became the occasion of 
severe adverse criticism of the fiscal administration of the 
Government. In consequence of the censure thus incurred, 
the Hon. A. T. Gait, Finance Minister, resigned his office, and 
the Hon. John Rose received his portfolio. 

On the 7th of the following April, the country was thrilled 
with horror at the barbarous assassination of the Hon. ises. 
Thomas DArcy McGee. This eloquent statesman had been 
one of the ablest and most earnest advocates of confederation, 
and his death was felt as a national bereavement. He was fol- 
lowed from the House of Commons, in the early hours of the 
morning, by a Fenian fanatic named Patrick Whelan, and shot 
while entering his hotel. The sorrow of the nation was mani- 
fested by the imposing obsequies of the murdered statesman, 
and by its generous sympathy toward his bereaved family. The 
wretch who had stained the annals of his country with the 
crime of assassination, was arrested, tried and convicted, 
and expiated his offence on the gallows. 

In the month of November, Lord Monck, having witnessed 
the successful inauo:uration of the new constitution of the con- 



526 



HISTORY OF CANADA, 




LORD LISGAR. 



federate provinces, was succeeded in office by the Eight Hon. 
Sir John Young, Baron Lisgar, P. C, G. C. B., G. C. M. G. 

His Excellency was bom at Bom- 
bay, in 1807. He was educated 
at Eton and Corpus Christi Col- 
lege, Oxford. He was Chief 
Secretary for Ireland from 1852 
to 1855, and subsequently Lord 
High Commissioner for the 
Ionian Islands, and Governor of 
New South Wales. 

Considerable dissatisfaction 
with the terms of union soon 
began to be manifested in the 
province of Nova Scotia. The 
annual subsidy from the Dominion Government of $60,000, 
together with eighty cents per head for the population according 
to the census of 1861, was found inadequate for the civil 
expenses of the Government. A strong anti-confederation 
agitation was therefore kept up, led by the Hon. Joseph Howe, 
and the Hon. Mr. Wilkins, Attorney-General of the province. 
The first election after the union resulted in the return of a larcre 
majority in the local legislature opposed to confederation. A 
petition was forwarded to the British parliament, requesting 
the repeal of the British North America Act so far as it con- 
cerned Nova Scotia; and, during the year 1868, Mr. Howe 
proceeded again to England, to urge the demands of his native 
province. He was confronted by hiB countryman, the Hon. 
Dr. Tupper, the agent and representative of the Dominion 
Government. The Imperial parliament refused to entertain the 
proposition of a repeal of the union, but counselled a com- 
promise with the recalcitrant 25rovince. 

The Dominion Government offered a liberal re-adjustmcnt of 
terms with Nova Scotia. The amount of provincial debt 
1869. assumed by the Dominion was increased from $8,000,- 
000 to $9,186,756, and an additional annual subsidy was 



granted. 



The cost of the new Provincial Buildings was also 



COXFEDERATIOX ACCOMPLISHED. 527 

assumed. Mr. Howe withdrew his opposition, and accepted 
office Iq the Dominion Government as President of the Execu- 
tive Council, and subsequently as Secretary of State for the Prov- 
inces. This act was bitterly condemned by many of his friends 
as a breach of trust, and he gained his re-election on his return 
to his constituents only after a severe contest. The local 
opposition to the union, however, gradually subsided, and the 
generous treatment by the sister provinces of the distressed 
fishermen of Nova Scotia, whose staple industry had proved 
this year a disastrous failure, also tended to mitigate the anti- 
confederation feeling. The Hon. Edward Kenny succeeded 
Mr. Howe as President of the Council, and the following year 
was appointed administrator of the Government of Nova 
Scotia. In consequence of resignations and deaths, the follow- 
ing additional changes were made in the ministry. Sir Francis 
Hincks having returned to Canada, again entered public life, 
and became Minister of Finance. Senator J. C. Aikins 
entered the cabinet, at first without a portfolio, then as Secre- 
tary of State. The Hon. Christopher Dunkin, and Hon. Alex. 
Morris, became, respectively, ministers of Agriculture and 
Inland Revenue . 



528 BISTORT OF C AX AD A. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

RIVAL FUR COMPANIES — RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 

The Hudson's Bay Company Organized, 1670 — Prolonged Conflict Tvith the 
older French Fur Company — The North-west Company Organized, 1783 — 
Its Enterprise and Success — Fort William — Lord Selkirk Plants Red River 
Colony, 1812 — Conflict with North-west Company — Murder of Governor 
Semple, 1816 — Lord Selkirk Captures Fort William — Disasters at Red 
River — The Caterpillar Plague — Lord Selkirk's Energy overcomes every 
Difficulty —-The Great Flood of 1825-26 Devastates the Colony — Ill-advised 
Manufacturing Schemes — Hudson's Bay and North-west Companies Amal- 
gamate, 1821 — Council of Assiniboia Organized, 1836 — Patriarchal Gov- 
ernment of, the Hudson's Bay Company — Development of the North-west 
Territory. 

THE extension of the Dominion of Canada so as to embrace 
within its bounds the whole of the territory of British 
North America, was the strong desire of the leading Canadian 
statesmen. To promote this object the Hon. George E. Car- 
tier, and the Hon. William Macdougall, proceeded to England 
in 1868. A necessary preliminary to this was the cession to 
Canada of the rights of the Hudson's Bay Company. It will 
be convenient here to retrace briefly the history of the great 
monopoly that for two centuries had controlled those vast, and, 
in large part, fertile regions of this continent. 

In the year 1670, at the solicitation of Prince Rupert* and 
the Duke of Albemarle, King Charles II. created by royal 
charter the "Company of Merchant Adventurers trading to 
Hudson's Bay." With characteristic lavishness the King 
granted to this company the sole trade and commerce of the 
vast and vaguely defined regions, to which access may be had 
through Hudson's Straits. Forty years before this, Louis 
Xin. had made a similar grant to the '* Company of New 
France," and, for nearly a hundred years, there was a keen and 

* Hence a large portion, of this territory was known as Rupert's Land. 



RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 529 

eager rivalry between these hostile corporations. In order to 
control the lucrative fur-trade, the Hudson's Bay Company 
planted forts and factories at the mouths of the Moose, Albany, 
Nelson, Churchill, and other rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay. 
Again and again, adventurous bands of Frenchmen, like 
D'Iberville and his companions, made bloody raids upon these 
posts, murdering their occupants, burning the stockades, and 
carrying off the rich stores of peltries. 

Growing bolder with success, the French penetrated the vast 
interior as far as the head-waters of the Mississippi, the Mis- 
souri, and the Saskatchewan, and reached the Rocky Mountains 
long before any other white men had visited those regions. 
They planted trading-posts and small palisaded forts at impor- 
tant river-junctions and on far-off lonely lakes, and wrote their 
names all over this great continent, in the designation of cape 
and lake and stream, and other great features of nature. The 
voyageurs and coureurs de bois, to whom this wild, adventurous 
life was full of fascination, roamed through the forests and 
navigated the countless arrowy streams; and Montreal and 
Quebec snatched much of the spoil of this profitable trade from 
the hands of the English company. Every little far-off trading- 
post and stockaded fort felt the reverberations of the English 
guns which won the victory of the Plains of Abraham, whereby 
the sovereignty of those vast regions passed away forever from 
the possession of France. 

After the conquest, numerous independent fur-traders engaged 
in this profitable traffic. In 1783, these formed a junction of 
interests and organized the North-west Company. For forty 
years this was one of the strongest combinations in Canada. 
Its energetic agents explored the vast North-west regions. Sir 
Alexander Mackenzie, in 1789, traced the great river which 
bears his name, and first reached the North Pacific across the 
Eocky Mountains. In 1808, Simon Frazer descended the gold- 
bearing stream which perpetuates his memory; and, shortly 
after, Thompson explored and named another branch of the 
same great river. 

Keen was the rivalry with the older Hudson's Bay Company, 
67 



530 



BISTORT OF CANADA, 



and long and bitter was the feud between the two great cor- 
porations, each of which coveted a broad continent as a hunt- 
ing-ground and preserve for game. The headquarters of the 
Xorth-west Company were at Fort William, on Lake Superior. 




.-. trA- w-^:" ^ ^cg^g'^ _---:=— tr^ ^'•" ?^"*'or^''> 



McKay's mountain, fort william. 

Its clerks were mostly young Scotchmen, of good families, 
whose characteristic thrift and fidelity were encouraged by a 
share in the profits of the fur-trade. The partners of the com- 
pany travelled in feudal state, attended by a retinue of boatmen 
and servants, "obedient as Highland clansmen." The grand 
councils and banquets in the thick-walled state chamber at 
Fort William were occasions of lavish pomp and luxury. 
Sometimes as many as twelve hundred retainers, factors, 
clerks, voyageurs^ and trappers were assembled, and held for 
a time high festival, with a strange blending of civilized and 
savage life. 

In the early years of the present century, the feud between 
the rival companies was at its height. At this time, Thomas 
Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, was the Governor of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, and proprietor of a large proportion of the 
stock. He was a man of indomitable energy, and of dauntless 
courage. With the skill of an experienced general, he pre- 
pared for the strenuous conflict which he felt to be inevitable. 
He perceived that by obtaining control of the Red River, and 



RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 531 

erecting a fort at its junction with the Assiniboine, ho would 
have a strong base for future operations, and would possess an 
immense advantage over his opponents. For this purpose he 
resolved to establish a colony of his countrymen at that strate- 
gic position, the key of the mid-continent. He received from 
the company, in furtherance of this project, a grant of sixteen 
thousand square miles, or over ten million acres of land, in the 
neighbourhood of Red River. He built Fort Douglas, the site 
of which is commemorated in the name of Point Douglas, in 
the town of Winnipeg. The offer of free grants of land, and 
of sundry special privileges, induced a large number of hardy 
Highlanders to seek their fortunes in the far west. 

In the year 1812, the first brigade of colonists reached Red 
River, by way of Hudson's Bay, having spent an entire winter 
on the borders of that icy sea. A stern welcome awaited them. 
Hardly had they arrived at the site of the proposed settlement, 
when an armed band of Nor'-Westers, the rival fur-traders, 
plumed and painted in the Indian style, appeared and commanded 
the colonists to depart. The latter, overpowered by numbers, 
were compelled to submit, and to take refuge at the Hudson's 
Bay post at Pembina, within the territory of the United States. 
Even the guns that their fathers had borne at CuUoden, were 
taken from them, and the wedding-rings of the women were 
torn from their fingers. 

Undaunted by this failure, they returned in the spring of 
1813, built log-houses, and sowed their wheat. They were 
undisturbed till the following year. By this time the decree 
had gone forth from the councils of the North-west Company, 
— the colony must be destroyed. It was done, but not 
without shedding of blood. The settlement became a heap of 
ashes, its inhabitants exiles in the wilderness. 

Re-enforced by a new brigade from Scotland, and by a hun- 
dred veteran Canadians, the banished settlers returned to their 
ruined homes. Many hardships ensued. The hapless colonists 
lived on fish, roots, berries, nettles, and wild parsnips. Many 
of them were forced to abandon the settlement, — toiling * 
through the wilderness back to Canada. 



532 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

But in the following year, 1816, there fell upon the little 
colony a more crushing blow tJian any it had yet received. In 
the month of June, a body of three hundred mounted Nor'- 
Westers, armed to the teeth, and begrimed with war-paint, 
attacked the settlement. A little band of twenty-eight men 
went forth to parley. By a volley of the enemy, twenty-one 
of them were slain, including Mr. Eobert Semple, acting-Gov- 
ernor of the settlement. The town was sacked and burned, 
and the wretched inhabitants, driven from the blackened embers 
of their devastated homes, found refuge at Norway House. * 

Lord Selkirk was at New York, on his way to Rupert's Land, 
when he heard of this attack. He immediately assumed the 
offensive. The blood of the Douglases was stirred in his veins. 
He had with him about a hundred Swiss, German, and French 
soldiers of the De Meuron regiment, disbanded at the close of 
the continental war, and a few Glengarry men. With these he 
hastened by way of Penetanguishene, and the north shore of 
Lakes Huron and Superior to Fort William, dragging with him 
two small cannon through the wilderness. Here sworn infor- 
mation was laid before him as a Justice of the Peace by some 
of the sufferers from the recent outrages, charging certain 
occupants of the fort with the crime of ' ' larceny, riot, and 
murder." There M^ere in the neighbourhood of Fort William 
about three hundred French-Canadians and Lidians in the em- 
ploy of the North-west Company. Selkirk demanded the sur- 
render of the guilty parties, and, under warrant of his justice's 
commission, broke open the gates and took possession of the 
fort. The prisoners were sent to York (Toronto) for trial; 
but, through incompleteness of evidence, were acquitted, and, 
for some time, Selkirk held possession of the fort. 

With a high-spirited philanthropy, Lord Selkirk sought to 
give homes on the fertile prairies of Red River to his country- 
men who had faithfully served their King through a bloody 
European war, or who were driven from their ancestral hold- 
ings of land by heartless landlords, who, preferring sheep- 

* It was afterward noted that twenty-six out of the attacking party of sixty- 
five, died untimely and violent deaths. 



RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 533 

farming to tenant-culture, turned populous estates into a soli- 
tude. He again established colonists in the thrice-forsaken 
settlement, furnishing them with agricultural implements, seed- 
grain and stock. But the summer was already half gone, the 
harvest was scanty, famine was impending, and the hapless 
settlers were again compelled, on the approach of winter, to 
take refuge at the Hudson's Bay post at Pembina. Their hard- 
ships were incredible. They were forced to subsist upon the 
precarious products of the chase. They suffered everything 
but death, and were reduced to the utmost extremity. 

In the spring, the Red Eiver colonists returned for the fifth 
time to their abandoned habitations. Fortune seemed at last 
to smile upon their efforts. The crops were ripening around 
the little settlement and hope beat high in every heart ; but an 
unforeseen catastrophe awaited them. Late in an afternoon in 
the last week in July, a cloud of grasshoppers, — like the 
Egyptian plague of locusts, more terrible than a destroying 
army, — darkened the air, covered the ground, and, in a single 
night, devoured almost every green thing. The land was as 
the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate 
wilderness. It was a piteous sight. Strong men bowed them- 
selves. The sturdy Highlanders, who had gazed on death 
unblanched, burst into tears as they thought of the famine- 
pangs that menaced their wives and little ones. Another weary 
march, and a miserable winter at Pembina, was their fate. 

Again, in the spring, that forlorn hope returned to their 
devastated fields. But agriculture was impossible. The grass- 
hoppers of the previous season had left a terrible legacy behind 
them. Their larvae multiplied a thousand-fold. They filled 
the air, covered the ground, extinguished the fires kindled in 
the fields as a barrier against them, polluted the water, were 
strewn along the river banks like seaweed on the ocean shore, 
and the stench of their dead bodies infected the atmosphere. 
Pembina must succour the hapless colonists yet another winter. 

The story of such uniform disaster becomes wearisome. 
Any one less determined, less dogged, it might perhaps be said, 
than Lord Selkirk, would have abandoned the colony. Not so 



534 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

he. His resolution rose with the difficulties of the occasion, 
and surmounted every obstacle. That little company, — the 
advance-guard of the great army of civilization destined yet to 
fill tlie land so bravely won, — returned to the scene of their 
blasted hopes. At the cost of five thousand dollars, Lord 
Selkirk brought two hundred and fifty bushels of seed-wheat 
from Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi, a distance of twelve 
hundred miles. It was sown, and, by the Divine blessing, 
after eight years of failure, the harvest was happily reaped. 
Amid such hardships and privations was the Eed Eiver settle- 
ment planted. 

The colony now struck its roots deep into the soil. It grew 
and flourished year by year. Kecruits came from Scotland, 
from Germany, from Switzerland. They suffered many priva- 
tions, and encountered some disasters, but none worse than that 
of the winter of 1825-26. It was a season of extreme severity. 
Thirty-three persons perished of hunger and cold, and many 
cattle died. With the spring thaw, the river rose nine feet in 
a single day. In three days every house had to be abandoned. 
The inhabitants fled to the highest ground adjacent. They 
beheld their houses, barns, crops, fences, — everything they 
possessed, — swept by on the rushing torrent to Lake Winnipeg. 
The waters continued to rise for nineteen days. The disheart- 
ened colonists proposed abandoning forever the luckless settle- 
ment. At this crisis tidings of the abatement of the flood was 
brought. The weary watchers rushed to the water's side. It 
was even so. They accepted the deliverance as from God. 
They resolved to remain where they were. A new beginning 
had to be made. The unfortunate settlement was well-nigh 
destroyed. 

In a somewhat visionary attempt to manufacture cloth from 
bufililoes' wool, the magnates of the fur-trade, at great cost, 
introduced machinery and workmen from England. This fail- 
ing, fifteen thousand sheep were purchased in Kentucky, two 
thousand miles distant. Only two hundred and fifty survived 
the journey, and these soon died of exhaustion. Flax-culture 
and tallow exportation were also tried without success. In 



EED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 535 

these ill-advised schemes Lord Selkirk sank half a million of 
dollars. The population of the settlement, however, continued 
gradually to increase, a considerable proportion of it being 
composed of the half-breed progeny of the early French or 
EngKsh-speaking employes of the trading companies and the 
aboriginal race. 

Exhausted by forty years of conflict, in 1821, the Hudson's 
Bay and North-west companies ceased their warfare and com- 
bined their forces, and were confirmed by the Imperial parlia- 
ment in the monopoly of trade through the wide region stretch- 
ing from Labrador to the Pacific Ocean. Li order to maintain 
control of the Ked Eiver settlement, in 1836, they paid the 
sum of £84,000 sterling for the land gi-anted to Lord Selkirk 
twenty-four years before, except that which had been deeded to 
settlers. Sir George Simpson became the Governor of the 
Territory, and continued to administer its affairs for forty 
years. The Council of Assiniboia was organized, consisting of 
the chief officer of the company, and councillors chosen from 
among the most influential inhabitants of the region, and having 
jurisdiction for fifty miles around Fort Garry. The rest of the 
Territory was under the supreme control of the company. Its 
government, while jealously exclusive of rival influence, was 
patriarchal in character, and through the exclusion, for the 
most part, of intoxicating liquors, greatly promoted the welfare 
of the Indians, and repressed disorder throughout its wide 
domain. 

The policy of the company was adverse to the settlement of 
the country, and its agents endeavoured, as far as possible, 
to retain the fur-trade and sale of goods and supplies, — the 
profits of which were very great, — exclusively in their own 
hands. 

The Red River settlement, in 1858, had increased to a popu- 
lation of about eight thousand, and during the next ten years 
to about twelve thousand. On the formation of the Dominion 
of Canada, however, it was felt to be highly desirable that it 
should be included in the new confederacy, and also that the 
Dominion should acquire jurisdiction over the vast regions 



536 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and, as we 
have seen, the Hon. George E. Cartier and Hon. William 
Macdougall visited Great Britain to promote this object. 
Some years prior to this date, numerously-signed petitions 
from the inhabitants of the Eed Eiver settlement were pre- 
sented to the Government of Canada, soliciting annexation to 
that country. 



TEE RED RIVER RE BELLI OX. 637 



CHAPTEE XLVII. 

THE RED EIVEE EEBELLION. 

Nort]i--we8t Territory ceded to the Crown, 1868 — The Hon. William Mac- 
do ugall at Eed Elver, October 20, 18G9 — Insurrectionary Outbreak — The 
Insurgents Seize Fort Garry, November 3 — Dr. Schultz, and Forty-four 
Canadians, Captured and Imprisoned, December 7 — Provisional Government 
Organized, February 9, 1870 — Major Boulton and Forty-seven Loyalists 
Captured and Imprisoned, February 17 — Thomas Scott Condemned and 
Shot, March 4 — Indignation in Canada — The Manitoba Act Passed, 
May 20 — Colonel Wolseley Organizes Eed Eiver Expedition — It Enters 
Fort Garry, August 24 — Hon. A. G. Archibald Assumes Civil Government, 
September 3 — Last Fenian Attempt at Trout Eiver and Pigeon Hill, May 
25-28 — British Columbia Enters the Dominion, 1871 — Vancouver's Island 
Discovered, 1762 — Colonized by Hudson's Bay Company, 1843 — Vancouver's 
Island a Crown Colony, 1849 — Influx of Gold-hunters, 1858 — British 
Columbia Organized a Separate Colony — Joint Occupation of San Juan by 
British and Americans, 1854 — Vancouver's Island and British Columbia Ee- 
united, 1866 — Terms of Union with Canada — Franco-Prussian War — 
Outrages of the Commune. 

THE extension of the Dominion of Canada till it should 
embrace the whole of the British North American posses- 
sions from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was destined soon to be 
accomplished. In 1868, the Eupert's Land Act was passed by 
the British parliament, and, under its provisions, the Hudson's 
Bay Company surrendered to the crown its territorial rights 
over the vast region under its control. The conditions of this 
surrender were as follows : — The company was to receive the 
sum of £300,000 sterling in money, and grants of land around 
its trading-posts to the extent of fifty thousand acres in all. 
In addition it is to receive, as it is surveyed and laid out in 
townships, one-twentieth of all the land in the great fertile belt 
south of the north branch of the Saskatchewan. It retains 
also the privilege of trade, but without its forhier exclusive 
monopoly. * 

* The price paid for this magnificent territory amounts to only one-sixth of 
a cent per acre, or one-fifteenth the amount paid per acre by the United States 
for £rozeu Alaska. 

68 



538 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

The following April the Dominion parliament passed an Act, 
1869.* granting the necessary appropriation for the indemnity 
of the Hudson's Bay Company for its territorial rights, and 
providing for the temporary government of the entire region, 
under the designation of the North-west Territory. In antici- 
pation of its speedy cession, which was appointed to take place 
on the 1st of December, surveying parties were sent into the 
Red River country for the purpose of laying out roads and 
townships, with a view to its early occupation. Unhappily 
jealousies were awakened among the settlers lest this move- 
ment should in some way prejudice their title to their land. It 
was unfortunate that no commissioner was appointed at this 
juncture to explain the proposed change of government, in 
order to remove the misapprehensions of the inhabitants. 

In the month of September, the Hon. William Macdougall 
proceeded to Red River to assume the duties of Governor of 
the North-west Territory so soon as the cession should take 
place. He was prepared to establish stage and telegraph lines, 
and to carry out a vigorous policy of internal development and 
improvement. He was met near the frontier, on the 20th of 
October, by a band of armed men, and compelled to retreat 
across the border to Pembina. An insurrectionary council was 
created, with John Bruce as its president, and Louis Riel as 
secretary, although the latter was really the leading spirit of 
the movement. The insurgents set at defiance the authority of 
Mr. MacTavish, the resident Governor of Assiniboia and the 
Hudson's Bay Territory, and, on the 3d of November, took 
forcible possession of Fort Garry, a stone-walled enclosure 
containing the valuable stores of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
together with a quantity of small-arms, several pieces of 
cannon, and a large supply of ammunition. 

Colonel Dennis, a Canadian militia officer, who had been 
conducting the land surveys, and was commissioned as Deputy- 

* During this summer, H. E. H. Prince Arthur joined his regiment in Canada. 
He made a somewhat extended tour through the country, and was everywhere 
received with the loyal enthusiasm by which Canadians testify their regard 
for the family of their beloved sovereign. 



THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 539 

Governor by ]\Ir. Macdougall, hereupon organized a force of 
the loyal iuhabitauts, for the supj)ression of the revolt and the 
vindication of the Queen's authority. A party of these, forty- 
five in all, were besieged by the insurgents in the house of Dr. 
Schultz, in the town of "Winnipeg, and, on their surrender on 
the 7th of December, were imprisoned for some months in Fort 
Garry. The number of prisoners was soon increased by illegal 
arrests to over sixty. 

The temporary success of the revolt seems to have com-- 
pletely turned the heads of its leaders, and to have i87o. 
encouraged them to more audacious designs. Eiel demanded 
a loan of two thousand pounds sterling from Governor Mac- 
Tavish, which, being refused, he seized and broke open the 
safe of the company and pillaged its stores, as well as the 
property of Dr. Schultz, and that of the Canadian Govern- 
ment, deposited in his warehouse. He proceeded further to 
the arrest of Governor MacTavish, then ill with his mortal 
sickness. 

A convention of delegates from the several parishes of the 
settlement was now summoned by the Eiel faction, and a 
declaration was issued in vindication of their insurrectionary 
movement. A provisional government was created, of which 
Eiel contrived to have himself elected president, February 7. 
A bill of rights was formulated, the principal feature of which 
was a demand for local self-government, representation in the 
Dominion legislature, and an amnesty to be granted to the 
leaders of the revolt. Eiel had now an armed force of some 
six hundred men under his control, and carried things with a 
high hand in the settlement, arresting whomsoever he chose, 
confiscating public and private property, and banishing from 
the country persons obnoxious to himself. 

This usurped authority proving intolerable to the loyal in- 
habitants, they organized a movement for the release of the 
prisoners and the suppression of the revolt. A large body of 
men, numbering, it is said, some six or seven hundred, assem- 
bled for this purpose in the neighbourhood of Fort Garry. 
The prisoners in the fort having in the meantime been released, 



540 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

this movement was abandoned. A party of these loyalists, on 
their way to their homes, were intercepted by an armed- force 
from the fort, and imprisoned, to the number of forty-eight. 
Their leader, Major Boulton, a Canadian militia officer, was 
thrown into irons, and, after a summary trial by a rebel 
tribunal, was sentenced to be shot. He was reprieved only 
after the earnest intercession of the leading persons of the 
English-speaking population. 

Shortly after, however, another Canadian prisoner fell a 
victim to Kiel's usurped and ill-used power. Thomas Scott, a 
brave and loyal man, for the crime of endeavouring to main- 
tain the authority of his rightful sovereign, after a mock-trial 
by a rebel court-martial, was sentenced to be shot at noon the 
following day. In spite of the remonstrance and intercession 
of the Rev. George Young, the Wesleyan missionary, at Win- 
nipeg, who attended the prisoner in his last hours, and of Mr. 
Commissioner Smith, the cruel sentence of this illegal and self- 
constituted tribunal was carried into execution. 

On the 4th of March, Thomas Scott was led from his prison 
with pinioned arms, and shot in cold blood by a firing party of 
the insurgents. So unskilfully did the assassins perform their 
work, that it is said the unfortunate man lived and spoke for 
some time after he was thrust into his coffin, and was at last 
despatched with the stab of a knife. 

The tidings of this assassination produced intense excitement 
throughout Canada, especially in the province of Ontario. 
Tumultuous indignation meetings were held, and a loud 
demand was made for the punishment of the instigators of the 
crime. A reward of five thousand dollars was subsequently 
offered by the Ontario Government for the arrest of Kiel. 
Measures were promptly taken by the Imperial and Dominion 
authorities conjointly, for maintaining the supremacy of the 
Queen in the North-west. Several commissioners* had, dur- 
ing the winter, been appointed by the Dominion Government 
to visit the insurgent territory, to ascertain the wishes of the 

* Grand Vicar Thibault, Colonel de Salaberry, Donald A. Smith (who was a 
memlDer of tlie Hudson's Bay Company), and Bishop Tach6. 



THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 



541 



inhabitants, and to convey assurances that all their rights 
should be respected, and a liberal constitution granted. 

On the 20th of May, an Act passed the Dominion parliament, 
creating the new province of Manitoba, and admitting it into 
the Canadian confederation. Its limits were defined as extend- 
ing a hundred miles northward from the American frontier, 
and one hundred and twenty miles from east to west. It was 
granted a representation of two members in the Senate, and 
four in the House of Commons. It was also to receive an 
annual subsidy of $30,000, and eighty cents per head on a 
population estimated at seventeen thousand. A local legisla- 
ture was organized, consisting of a Lieutenant-Governor 
(assisted by an Executive Council of five members) , a Legis- 
lative Council of seven members, and a House of Assembly of 
twenty-four members. 

The govern- 
ment of the 



tisruous 



con- 
North- 




west Territory was 
to be administered 
by the Lieutenant- 
Governor of Mani- 
toba, aided by a 
Council of eleven 
members (after- 
wards increased to 
twenty-two). This 
Act was accepted 
by the council of 
the provisional 
government on 
behalf of the peo- 
ple, and, on the 
23d of Tune thp kakabekah falls, kaministiquia kiver. 

Queen's proclamation for the admission of the new province into 
the Dominion was issued. 

In the meantime. Colonel Garnet "VVolseley, afterwards dis- 



542 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

tinguished as the successful commander of the British troops 
in the Ashantee war, organized, in the month of June, a mili- 
tary expedition to restore the authority of the Queen m the 
insurrectionary province. A body of twelve hundred picked 
men, about a hundred of whom belonged to the Sixtieth Regi- 
ment of the regular army, the remainder being volunteer Cana- 
dian militia from both Ontario and Quebec, proceeded by way 
of Fort William and Rainy Lake and River to Fort Garry. 
For four hundred miles the expedition traversed a wilderness 
of labyrinthine lakes or rapid rivers. All the military stores 
and provisions, and the large and heavy boats, had to be borne 
with incredible labour over numerous portages, — often long 
and steep and rugged, — around the falls and cataracts, one of 
which is shown in the engraving. Yet the little army toiled 
on through innumerable obstacles, and, on the 24th of August, 
reached its destination, only to find that, as no amnesty for the 
leaders of the revolt had arrived, Riel, and his fellow-conspira- 
tors had fled from Fort Garry. 

The British troops immediately 
occupied the fort, and, to the great 
joy of the loyal inhabitants, the 
Queen's authority was again acknowl- 
edged as supreme. On the 3d of 
September, the Hon. A. G. Archibald 
arrived, and assumed the functions of 
Lieutenant-Governor. * The troops 
of the regular army immediately 
returned, and the maintenance of 
order was entrusted to the Canadian 
„^,, . ^ , militia : most of whom, however, 

HON. A. G. ARCHIBAI,D. ' ' ' 

were shortly after withdrawn. 

* Tlie Hon, Adams George Arcliibald, was born at Truro, Noya Scotia, in 1814. 
He was a member of the Executive Council of his native province, during a 
period of four years. He was a delegate to the Union Conferences at Char- 
lottetown, Quebec, aud London. He was Secretary of State for the provinces 
in the first ministry of the Dominion of Canada. In 1873, he resigned the 
Governorship of Manitoba and the North-west Territory, and, the same year, 
was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, on the death of the Hon. 
Joseph Howe. 




THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 543 

The leaders of the Fenian, conspiracy in the United States 
had, in the meantime, been endeavouring to keep up the delu- 
sion of their countrymen that a serious attack would be made 
on Canada. At length they found that some active demonstra- 
tion was necessary to prevent the collapse of the organization. 
In the spring of the year, therefore, it made its last feeble 
effort to disturb the peace of Canada. On the 25th of May, 
an ill-organized horde crossed the frontier of the province of 
Quebec, at Trout River. It was speedily confronted by a 
small force of regulars and volunteers, and hastily retreated. 
Three days later a similar raid was made at Pigeon Hill, but it 
was repulsed, and "General" O'Neil was captured by the 
United States Marshal. The President of the United States 
hereupon issued a proclamation forbidding American citizens 
taking any part in raids against the people of Canada. 

On the 5th of October, of the following year, the irrepres- 
sible O'Neil, and O'Donohue, a confederate of Kiel's in isti. 
the late insurrection, with a Fenian band, crossed the boundary 
of Manitoba, at Pembina, and seized the Custom-house and 
Hudson's Bay post. They were, shortly after, followed and 
captured by a company of United States troops, the precise 
location of the boundary line being not then settled, and O'Neil 
and some of his fellow-conspirators underwent the formality of 
a trial in a United States court, but were discharged. Mr. 
Archibald was, shortly after, succeeded as Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor by the Hon. Chief Justice Morris. 

In the early part of the year, the Pacific province of British 
Columbia was admitted into the Dominion of Canada. The 
previous history of that colony is soon told. In 1762, Captain 
Vancouver visited and partially explored the islands lying off 
the North Pacific coast, and gave his name to the largest of the 
group. Attracted by the spacious harbours, fine climate, fer- 
tile soil, and wealth of timber, coal, fisheries, and furs, the 
Hudson's Bay Company, in 1843, received a lease of the island 
and the adjacent main-land from the crown, and planted trad- 
ing-posts at Victoria and other places. International difficul- 
ties on account of disputed boundary, shortly arising, in 1846 



544 HISTORY OF CAIVADA. 

the dividing line between the British territory and United 
States was defined as one passing through the channel that 
separates Vancouver's Island from the main-land. This was still 
ambiguous, as each country claimed the island of San Juan, 
situated in mid-channel, and of considerable importance for 
military purposes as commanding the entrance to Frazer 
River. 

In 1849, Yancouver's Island became a crown colony, and Sir 
James Douglas, the local agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
was appointed its first Governor. The contemporaneous dis- 
covery of gold in California attracted thither thousands of 
Canadian and American gold-hunters, and the more northern 
colony was neglected. Rich deposits of the precious metal 
were shortly after found in British Columbia. Wild miners 
from California, and adventurous spirits from all parts of the 
world flocked to the new El Dorado. In 1858, between twenty 
and thirty thousand men were digging on the terraced slopes 
of the Frazer, and its tributaries. As a firm local government 
was necessary for the maintenance of order among the mixed, 
and, often reckless population, British Columbia was organized 
a separate crown colony. 

The following year, 1859, the American military comnaand- 
ant in Oregon Territory, occupied, with an armed force, the 
island of San Juan, the possession of which was a matter of 
dispute between the two nations. The English Admiral 
promptly landed a body of marines in vindication of the claim 
of Great Britain. A collision between the two forces seemed 
imminent, but the rival claimants agreed to a joint occupation 
of the island till the question of its"^ rightful ownership should 
be settled by arbitration. 

In 1866, Yancouver's Island was re-united with British 
Columbia, and, on the 20th of July, 1871, that colony was 
incorporated with the Dominion of Canada. It was granted a 
representation in the Dominion Senate of three members, and 
six members in the House of Commons. The chief condition 
of the union was the construction, within ten years, of a rail- 
way connecting the tide-waters of the Pacific Ocean with the 



THE RED RIVER REBELLION. 545 

railway system of Ontario and Quebec, — a gigantic under- 
taking, afterwards found impracticable within the allotted time. 
To aid the construction of the road the province was to grant 
twenty miles of land on each side of the line throughout its 
entire territory, for which it was to receive from the central 
government the sum of $100,000 per year. The debt of the 
Pacific province was also assumed by the Dominion at the com- 
puted amount of $1,666,000. It received a subsidy of eighty 
cents a head on an estimated population of sixty thousand, of 
which three-fourths consisted of the native Indian tribes. It 
was also to receive an annual grant of $35,000. 

Contemporaneously with this national growth and develop- 
ment, stirring events were shaking the European continent, to 
which we could not in Canada be indifierent. The declaration 
of war against Germany by the Emperor of the French, in 
1870, was speedily followed by the invasion of France, and 
the successive defeat of the French armies in the sanguinary 
conflicts of Wcerth, Gravelotte, and Sedan. The Emperor a 
prisoner, the Empress fled to England and France was de- 
clared a republic. The victorious German armies pressed 
remorselessly on to the siege of Paris. Amid frost and famine 
and fire, amid desperate sorties and gallant resistance, the 
doomed city held out till January 23, 1871, when it succumbed 
to the awful bombardment and relentless siege of the enemy. 
On the 1st of March, the conquering army marched into the 
captured capital, and inflicted, as the price of their evacua- 
tion of France, the penalty of the excessive indemnity of 
5,000,000,000 francs. 

No sooner was the strong hand of the Germans removed 
than the terrible rising of the Commune took place. For three 
months the Eepublican army of France besieged its own capi- 
tal, and, in fratricidal conflict, fought its way through scenes 
of slaughter, blood, and flame, to the possession of the city. 
A dreadful retaliation followed the stubborn resistance and 
wanton destruction of property by the frenzied Commune, in 
the wholesale execution of the defeated faction by their vic- 

69 



646 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

torious fellow-countrymen. These tragical events were the 
cause of profound sympathy in Canada, and considerable sums 
of money were contributed by its French and German inhabi- 
tants for the relief of the wounded of their respective coun- 
tries. 



CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 547 



CHAPTER XLYIII. 

CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTEATION. 

The Alabama Claims — The Fishery Question — The Washington Treaty Con- 
cluded, May 8, 1871 — Hon. Edward Blake, Premier of Ontario — Lord Duf- 
ferin, Governor-General, 1872 — The Geneva Arbitration — - British Sentiment 
on Colonial Connection — Second Dominion Parliament — Census Eeturns — 
Canadian Pacific Railway — Mr. Huntington Charges the Government with 
Malfeasance, April 2, 1873 — Investigation Committee Appointed — The 
Oaths Bill PasSed — Death of Sir George E. Cartier and Hon. Joseph Howe — 
Ontario Legislation — New Lieutenant-Governors — Prince Edward Island 
enters the Dominion, July 1 — "Pacific Scandal" Controversy — Parliament 
Meets, August 13 — Oaths Bill ultra vires — Parliament Prorogued — A Royal 
Commission Investigates Charges — Parliament Receives Report of Com- 
mission — The Macdonald Ministry Resigns, November 5. 

THE relations of the new Dominion to the neighbouring 
Republic continued for some time to be imperilled by 
complications arising from Imperial rather than from colonial 
causes. The question of the liability of Great Britain for the 
immense damage done to American commerce by the depreda- 
tions of the "Alabama," "Florida," and other Confederate 
cruisers sailing from British ports, was the occasion of intense 
and prolonged discussion in the United States. The political 
irritation found vehement expression in the public press, on the 
platform, and even in the pulpit. Another cause of interna- 
tional difficulty also existed. During the continuance of the 
reciprocity treaty, the deep-sea and inshore fisheries of the 
British North American coast were freely thrown open to 
American fishermen by the conditions of the treaty. On the 
suspension of reciprocity, of course that privilege ceased. 
Yet the Americans continued to claim the right of fishing in 
British waters. The protection by means of armed cruisers 
of these valuable preserves against this unauthorized intrusion, 
was both difficult and costly, and was liable to lead to serious 
interruptions of international peace. 

In order to discuss, and, as far as possible, remove these 



548 HISTORY OF CAXADA. 

and other causes of irritation between the two Governments, a 
joint high commission, composed of eminent statesmen of both 
nations, met at Washington, in the month of February, 1871. 
The interests of Canada were represented by Sir John A. 
Macdonald as one of the commissioners appointed by the 
Imperial Government. The result of the negotiations was 
expressed by the Washington Treaty, concluded on the 8th of 
May. The " Alabama " claims were jointly referred to a board 
of arbitration appointed by friendly powers, by whose decision 
each nation agreed to abide. The fisheries of both Canada and 
the United States were thrown open to either country. A 
money compensation was, however, to be paid to Canada in 
consideration of the superior value of her fisheries, the amount 
of compensation to be decided by a sub-commission. The 
navigation in common of the Canadian and United States 
canals, and of Lake Michigan, and the transport of dutiable 
goods in bond through either country, with some minor privi- 
leges, were mutually granted. The San Juan boundary diffi- 
culty was referred to the Emperor of Germany, who gave his 
decision in favour of the United States. The boundaries 
between the North-west Territory, and that of Alaska, recently 
purchased by the United States from Eussia, were also defined 
and soon after surveyed. 

The claims of the Dominion on account of losses sustained 
and expense incurred by the Fenian raids were entirely 
ignored by the commission. This gave much dissatisfaction in 
Canada, as did also the surrender of her valuable fisheries, for 
which it was apprehended that no adequate compensation would 
be obtained. Nevertheless, although the power of veto of the 
fishing clauses of the treaty was granted to the Dominion par- 
liament, they were loyally adopted out of consideration for the 
Imperial policy of Great Britain. The British Government, in 
consideration of the abandonment by Canada of the Fenian- 
raid claims, guaranteed a Dominion loan of $3,500,000, and 
continued its guarantee of the previous fortification loan of 
$1,100,000. 

In the Ontario legislature political parties were very evenly 



CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 549 

balanced. One result of confederation had been the accumula- 
tion in the treasury of the province of a large surplus, — the 
proceeds of crown land and other revenue, and of the 
Dominion subsidy. It was proposed to employ a considerable 
proportion of this surplus in aiding the construction of rail- 
ways in the province. Important narrow-gauge lines, opening 
up the Nipissing and Grey and Bruce regions, were projected 
and prosecuted by the aid of bonuses, voted by the munici- 
palities benefited. The discussion of these and other subjects 
was sufficiently acrimonious. In the month of December, 
1871, the Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, in consequence of a 
vote of the House adverse to the policy of his Government, in 
appropriating $1,500,000 for railroad subsidies without taking 
a vote on the appropriations to the several roads, resigned the 
premiership into the hands of Mr. Edward Blake. * It was 
objected by the new Opposition that several constituencies 
were not represented, when the Sandfield Macdonald Govern- 
ment was obliged to resign ; but Mr. Blake was, nevertheless, 
able to command a good working majority in a full House. 
Mr. Macdonald died the following summer, respected and 
regretted by all classes of the community. Among the impor- 
tant measures of the session was one disallowing the practice 
of dual representation ; that is, the occupancy of seats by the 
same person in both the Dominion and local parliaments. In 
consequence of this, Mr. Blake yielded the office of premier to 
the Hon. Oliver Mowat, who resigned his position on the 
Bench in order to enter again into political life. 

* The Hon. Edward Blake is the son of the late Hon. William Hume Blake, 
a gentleman of good Irish family, who became Solicitor-General of Canada in 
the Baldwin-Lafontaine ministry, and afterward Vice-Chancellor of Upper 
Canada. Tho younger Blake was educated at Upper Canada College and 
Toronto University, where he graduated with honours. He was called to the 
har in 1856. In 1867, he was elected representative for West Durham in the 
first Dominion parliament, and for South Bruce in the Ontario legislature, and 
became in the latter the acknowledged leader of the Opposition. Mr. Blake, 
on entering political life, at once stepped to the front rank, both at Toronto 
and Ottawa. His public addresses, both in parliament and out of it, challenge 
the attention of the country, and he commands the respect even of those who 
most strenuously oppose his political course. 



550 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

The marriage of the Princess Louise to the Marquis of 
Lome, created mucli social interest in Canada. Toward the 
close of the year 1871, the dangerous illness of the Prince of 
Wales awoke profound sympathy. On his restoration to 
health, Canada joined heartily in the national thanksgiving of 
the motherland. 

Li the month of June following, the Eight Honourable Sir 
1855. Frederick Temple, Earl of Dufferin, K. P., K. C. B., 
succeeded Sir John Young (now Lord Lisgar), as Governor- 
General of Canada. Lord Dufferhi was born in Ireland, in 
1826, in which country his ancestors for six generations, or 
two hundred years, have lived. He was educated at Eton 
College and Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded to the 
peerage on his father's death in 1841. He was for several 
years a Lord in waiting to the Queen, and has occupied several 
public positions of much importance. In 1859, he was British 
commissioner to Syria to inquire into the massacre of the 
Christians in that country, which duty he discharged with dis- 
tinguished ability and success. He was appointed Lord Lieu- 
tenant of the County Down in 1864. He was Under-Secretary 
of State for India from that year to 1866, and Under-Secretary 
for "War from 1866 to the following year. He was Chancellor 
of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Paymaster-General from 1868 
to the time of his appointment as Governor-General of Canada. 
He brought with him a distinguished reputation as an author. 
His ' ' Letters from High Latitudes " are brimful of humour and 
graphic description, his "Notes on Ancient Syria" exhibit 
much learning and research, and his various papers on Irish 
questions give evidence of rare statesmanship. By his genial 
courtesy he soon won a very remarkable degree of popular 
favour. He promptly identified himself with every interest of 
the country which was calculated to promote its happiness and 
welfare. 

After having rejected the preposterous claims of the United 
States for indirect or constructive damages on account of the 
piracies of the Confederate cruisers, the Geneva arbitration 
commission awarded to that country the sum of $15,500,000, 



CLO&E OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 551 

— this amount to be adjudicated to claimants in proportion to 
their ascertained losses. Thus was an example given of the 
feasibility of settling vexatious international difficulties by the 
peaceable arbitration of intelligent and dispassionate neutrals, 
instead of by appeal to the dread arbitrament of war. 

The " Times " newspaper, indeed, in view of the complica- 
tions in which it conceived that Canada involved the mother 
country, advocated its political divorce from Great Britain. 
The laureate, Tennyson, however, in a poetical address to the 
Queen, more correctly interpreted the feelings of the British 
nation by his indignant repudiation of the sordid feeling that 
because " so loyal was too costly," would bid that '« true North" 
to "loose the bond and go." The spontaneous outburst of 
feeling on both sides of the sea proved that the bond between 
Canada and the motherland was one of mutually strong and 
intense attachment. 

The first Dominion parliament having expired by effluxion of 
time, a general election was held during the summer and 
autumn of 1872 (from July 15 to October 12). The political 
excitement in all the provinces was very great, but it culmi- 
nated in Ontario and Quebec, where the most strenuous strug- 
gle took place. The elections resulted in the return of a par- 
liamentary majority sustaining the ministry of Sir John A. 
Macdonald. Sir George E. Cartier, however, was defeated in 
Montreal, but was elected for Provencher, in Manitoba. Sir 
Francis Hincks was also defeated, but found a seat as represent- 
ative of Vancouver District, in British Columbia. 

The returns of the census of 1871 were this year made 
public. The population of the four leading provinces was 
reported as follows: — Ontario, 1,620,851; Quebec, 1,191,- 
516; Nova Scotia, 387,500; New Brunswick, 285,594; total, 
3,485,761. 

The construction of a Canadian Pacific Kailway across the 
continent was one of the conditions of the entrance of British 
Columbia into the Dominion. For the purpose of procuring 
the contract for this gigantic undertaking, two rival companies 
obtained incorporation, — the " Canada Pacific," with Sir Hugh 



552 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



Allan, principal proprietor of the Canadian steamship line, at 
its head; and the '* Inter-Oceanic," with the Hon. Senator 
Macphersun as its president. The Government was authorized 
by Act of Parliament to give the contract for building the road 
to either company, or to the two companies amalgamated, or 
to any company distinct from either that would undertake the 
task. A subsidy of $30,000,000, and a grant of five million 
acres of land in alternate blocks along the line of railway, 
were also to be given to the company constructing the road. 

The financial state of the coun- 
try showed remarkable buoyancy, 
the surplus of revenue being 
three and a half millions. In 
consequence of this satisfactory 
condition of afiairs, the duty on 
tea and cofifee was abolished, and 
also the immigrant tax. 

A charter was at length granted 
1873. (February 19) to a new 
' ' Canada Pacific Railway Com- 
pany.'* The president was Sir 
Hugh Allan, * and, among the 
directors, seventeen in number, 
were members of both the former companies, and representa- 
tive men from the difierent provinces of the Dominion, together 
with several leading American capitalists. 




SIR HUGH AiLAN. 



* Sir Hugh Allan is a conspicuons example of the distinction achieved 
through the energy and enterprise of Scotchmen in Canada. He was born at 
Saltcoats, in the county of Ayr, in 1810, and is therefore now in his sixty-eighth 
year. His father was a successful ship-owner and captain, trading between 
the Clyde and Montreal. The son inherited the tastes of the sire, and early 
manifested predilections for the shipping business. He came to Canada in 1826, 
and, establishing himself at Montreal, built up gradually, in connection with 
his brothers, a large shipping interest. In 1852, his firm, subsidized by the 
Government of the day, established a fortnightly line of steamers to Montreal, 
which soon after became a weekly line. This enterprise wonderfully stimu- 
lated the growth of Montreal, and indeed of the entire country. The firm 
now controls one of the largest steam-fleets afloat, besides a large fleet of 
sailing vessels. 



CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 553 

Parliament met on the 6th. of March. The Government had 
a good working majority. Early in the session grave charges 
were preferred against the ministry by Mr. Huntington, the 
member for Shefibrd. They were accused of malfeasance of 
office in connection with the granting of the Pacific Railway 
charter, and Mr. Huntington moved for the appointment of a 
committee of investigation of the alleged malfeasance. The 
ministry regarded the motion as one of want of confidence, 
and, without debate, called for a division. They were sus- 
tained, in a house of a hundred and eighty-three members, by 
a majority of thirty-one. 

A few days after, however, Sir John A. Macdonald himself 
brought in a resolution for the appointment of a committee of 
investigation. A committee was accordingly appointed, con- 
sisting of Messrs. John Hillyard Cameron, J. Macdonald (of 
Pictou, N. S.), and Dr. Blanchet, from the Ministerial side of 
the House, and Messrs. Blake and Dorionfrom the Opposition. 
Mr. John Hillyard Cameron, the chairman of the committee, 
introduced a bill, giving it authority to examine witnesses on 
oath. Although the legality of the bill was questioned at the 
time, it was passed without opposition. The committee, on 
meeting, adjourned till the month of July to give an oppor- 
tunity for the return of Sir Hugh Allan and other persons con- 
cerned, who were at the time in Great Britain. The House 
rose in June, — by adjournment, not by prorogation, which 
would have destroyed the existence of the committee, — to 
meet on the 13th of August for the reception of the committee's 
report. An Act prohibiting dual representation had been 
passed, and one providing for election by ballot was introduced, 
but was not carried beyond its second reading. 

Early in the year Canada had lost two of her most distin- 
guished statesmen. On the 27th of May, Sir George E. Car- 
tier, Minister of Militia, died at London. He possessed great 
popularity and political influence among his French-Canadian 
fellow-countrymen. As a national tribute to his official posi- 
tion, distinguished ability, and the deserved esteem in which 
70 



554 EisTonr of Canada: 

he was held, his remains were interred with imposing obsequies 
at Montreal. 

On the 1st of June, the Hon. Joseph Howe died at the Gov- 
ernment House in Halifax. He had only a few days previously 
been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of his native province. 
He held his first levee lying in state upon his bier. 

The local legislature of Ontario met on January the 8th. 
Among the more important Acts of the session was one re- 
adjusting the Municipal Loan Fund indebtedness in a manner 
equitable to both indebted and unindebted municipalities ; also 
an Act giving a new constitution to Toronto University, and 
one consolidating the Municipal Acts. The crown-land policy 
of the Government was attacked by the Opposition, and much 
hostile criticism was incurred by the rejection of the Orange 
Incorporation Bill. Mr. Scott, on becoming a Privy Coun- 
cillor, was succeeded as Crown-Land Commissioner by Mr. 
Pardee, and Mr. Frazer became Provincial Secretary. The 
immigration to the province of Ontario during the season 
reached the number of thirty-eight thousand, a considerable 
number of whom were Russian Mennonites, against twenty- 
eight thousand in 1872. Mr. Howland was succeeded as 
Lieutenant-Governor by Mr. John Crawford. 

In British Columbia a new ministry was formed under the 
premiership of Mr. De Cosmos. 

In Manitoba, as already mentioned, Mr. Chief- Justice 
Morris succeeded Mr. Archibald as Lieutenant-Governor, the 
latter becoming Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia on the 
death of Mr. Howe. 

In Quebec, Mr. Caron became Lieutenant-Governor, vice Sir 
N. Belleau ; and, in New Brunswick, Mr. Tilley succeeded 
Mr. Wilmot. 

The country was stirred to sympathy by the tragical wreck 
on the coast of Nova Scotia, near Halifax harbour, of the 
steamship "Atlantic," whereby five hundred lives were lost. 
On the same iron-bound coast the steamship *' City of Wash- 
ington" was also wrecked, but, happily, without loss of life. 

On the 1st of July (Dominion Day) , Prince Edward Island 



CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 555 

was admitted into the Canadian confederacy upon conditions 
described in the chapter on the history of that province. The 
consummation of the union was celebrated with great festivity 
at Charlottetown, the capital of the island. 

A general re-adjustment of the financial relations of the 
provinces to the Dominion took place. Ontario and Quebec 
were relieved of a portion of their debt, and the other prov- 
inces received an increase in their annual subsidy. New 
Brunswick received, in addition, an annual grant of $150,000 
to compensate for the loss of her timber-dues under the Treaty 
of Washington. 

During the summer, Lord and Lady Dufferin made a prog- 
ress through the maritime provinces, winning all hearts by 
their refined and genial courtesy. They were everywhere 
received with the most loyal demonstrations. 

During the recess of parliament certain correspondence 
between Sir Hugh Allan and some American capitalists, which 
was published in the newspapers, seemed to inculpate the Gov- 
ernment in what was now designated the "Pacific Scandal," 
and seriously damaged their position. The burden of the 
charge was that the Government had received from Sir Hugh 
Allan and American capitalists, in consideration of granting 
them the Pacific Railway charter, large sums of money to be 
used in carrying the elections in the interest of the Ministerial 
party. It was contended, on the other hand, that these sums 
were the contributions of political friends, without corrupt 
motive. Intense partisan feeling prevailed throughout the 
Dominion, and, by a large number of persons, the case was 
prejudged, and the Government already condemned. 

When parliament met, on the 13th of August, the committee 
of investigation failed to report, as the Imperial Government 
had on legal grounds disallowed the Oaths Bill, under which it 
was authorized to receive sworn testimony. An address, signed 
by ninety-two members of parliament, chiefly occupants of the 
Opposition benches, was presented to the Governor-General, 
praying that he would not prorogue the House until the 
charges against the Government had been fully investigated. 



556 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

His Excellency, however, considered himself bound by consti- 
tutional reasons to carry out the programme announced, and, 
amid a scene of extraordinary tumult and commotion, and loud 
cries of *' Privilege," the Usher of the Black Rod summoned 
the Commons to the Senate Chamber for prorogation. 

A royal commission, composed of Messrs. Justice Day, 
Justice Polette, and Judge Go wan, was appointed by His 
Excellency to receive the testimony of sworn witnesses on the 
charges against the Government. 

Mr. Huntington refused to appear before the commission, on 
the ground that he considered its appointment an invasion of 
the privileges of parliament. The commission proceeded, 
however, to the examination of witnesses, including the lead- 
ing members of the Government, and others whose names had 
been previously cited by Mr. Huntington. The testimony of 
these witnesses seemed considerably to mitigate the burden of 
the charges. The Opposition press complained, however, that 
there was no cross-examination of the witnesses, and the Min- 
isterial press charged the Opposition with seeking evidence in 
a surreptitious and underhand manner. Party feeling ran very 
high, and mutual recriminations were very severe. 

Parliament met again on the 23d of October, to receive the 
report of the royal commission, presenting the unprecedented 
circumstance of being in session tliree times within five months. 
The report of the commissioners was an elaborate and exhaus- 
tive document, but it was confined to a statement of matters of 
evidence, without expressing any judicial opinion upon the 
subject. 

In amendment to the address in reply to the speech from the 
throne, Mr. Mackenzie, the leader of the Opposition, moved a 
resolution of censure on the Government. The debate that 
ensued was one of intense interest. The galleries of the 
House were crowded day after day with eager listeners from all 
parts of the country. For seven days the debate continued. 
Many former supporters of the Government announced their 
condemnation of the ministry, and their intention to vote 
against it. At length, without waiting for the House to come 



CLOSE OF THE MACDONALD ADMINISTRATION. 557 

to a vote, Sir John A. Macdonald announced the resignation 
of his cabinet, November 5. * 

* The following changes in the constitution of the Cabinet had taken place 
during the period covered by this chapter. The Hon. Dr. Tupper, N. S., 
became successively, in 1872 and 1873, Minister of Inland Revenue and Minister 
of Customs ; the Hon. J. H. Pope of Quebec, became, in 1872, Minister of 
Agriculture ; the Hon. J. O'Connor of Ontario, successively President of the 
Council, Minister of Inland Revenue, and Postmaster-General ; the Hon. Theo. 
Eobitaille of Quebec, became, in 1873, Receiver-General ; the Hon. Thomas N. 
Gibbs of Ontario, successively Secretary of State for the Provinces, and Minis- 
ter of Inland Revenue ; and the Hon. Hugh McDonald, N. S., successively 
President of the Council, and Minister of Militia. Room was made for these 
changes by the death of Sir George E. Cartier, by appointments to the Bench 
of Hon. C. Dunkin and Hon. A. Morris, by the appointment to the Governor- 
ship of Nova Scotia of Hon. Joseph Howe, and by iaternal transfers of office. 



558 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



CHAPTEK XLIX. 

THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 

Constitution of New Goyemment — Parliament Dissolved — Simultaneous 
Elections, January 29, 1874 — New Pacific EaUway Act — Controverted 
Elections Act — Qu 'Appelle Treaty with North-west Indians — Ontario Elec- 
tions, 1875 — Red River Amnesty — Changes in Ministry — Guibord Riot and 
Pilgrimage Riots — Organization of North-west Council and District of 
Kewatin, 1876 — Opening of Intercolonial Railway — Canada at the Cen- 
tennial Exhibition — Internal Development — The Commons Sessions of 1877 

— Ontario — St. John's Fire — The Fishery Award — The Commons Session, 
1878 — Ontario Parliament Dismissal of the De Boucherville Ministry, 
Quebec — The Joly Ministry — Party Riots in Montreal — Boundary Award 

— Marquis of Lome to be Governor-General — The Queen's Gift — Canadian 
Loyalty — General Elections. 



THE Governor-General called upon Mr. Mackenzie * to 
form a new ministry. He promptly complied, and, on 
the 7th of November, submitted to His Excellency the follow- 
ing cabinet : — 

* Mr. Mackenzie, the new premier, like 
many others of the public men of Canada, 
has been the architect of his own fortunes. 
He was born near Dunkeld, Perthshire, in 
1822. He received his early education in 
the public school of his native parish. Left 
an orphan at the age of fourteen, he earned 
his living by the labour of his hands, while 
he continued his unremitting work of self- 
education. He emigrated to Sarnia, in 
Upper Canada, in 1842. He felt a strong 
interest in the struggle for responsible gov- 
ernment in his adopted country, and took 
an active part in the advocacy of liberal 
principles. In 1861, he was elected mem- 
ber of parliament for Lambton, which 
constituency he has ever since represented. 
On the passage of the Act disallowing dual representation, he resigned his seat 
in the Ontario parliament for that at Ottawa, where he soon became the 
acknowledged leader of the Opposition. 




HON. ALEX. MACKENZIE. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 



559 



Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, 
Hon. A. A. Dorion, 
Hon. Edward Blake, . 
Hon. Albert J. Smith, . 
Hon. L. De St. Just, . 
Hon. E. J. Cartwright, 
Hon. David Laird, 
Hon. David Christie, . 
Hon. Isaac Burpee, 
Hon. D. A. Macdonald, 
Hon. Thomas Coffin, . 
Hon. T61esphor6 Fournier, 
Hon. William Ross, 
Hon. E. W. Scott, 



. Minister of Public Works. 

. Minister of Justice. 

. Without portfolio. 

. Minister of Marine and Fisheries. 

. Minister of Agriculture and Statistics. 

. Minister of Finance. 

. Minister of the Interior. 

. Secretary of State. 

. Minister of Customs. 

. Postmaster-General. 

. Eeceiver-General. 

. Minister of Inland Eevenne. 

. Minister of Militia and Defence. 

. Without portfolio. 



The new ministers on returning to their constituencies were 
re-elected by large majorities. As a new issue had come before 
the country since the general election, and as it was alleged that 
several members of the House were returned by corrupt prac- 
tices for the support of the late administration, Mr. Mackenzie 
requested a dissolution of parliament, and a fresh appeal to 
the country. 

During the Christmas recess, therefore, the House was dis- 
solved, January 3. The nominations, with few excep- 1874. 
tions, took place on January 22, and the elections, for the most 
part, one week later. The political contest was very keen and 
animated. Old party lines were in many cases obliterated, and 
not a few life-long Conservatives voted against the party which 
so long had ruled the destinies of the country. 

The night following the election was one of intense excite- 
ment. It was the first election for the Dominion parliament at 
which voting, with the exception of in a few outlying constituen- 
cies, was simultaneous. Through the midnight hours multi- 
tudes thronged the streets of the cities to read the successive 
telegraphic bulletins at the newspaper offices. Tar-barrels 
blazed, and torchlight processions and music celebrated the 
triumph of the victorious candidates. The following morning 
returns from nearly all the constituencies were published in the 
daily papers, recording a large majority in favour of the Gov- 
ernment. An administration which had the honour of guiding 
the early fortunes of the new confederation of provinces, which 



560 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

had exhibited marked ability, and had rendered distinguished 
service to the country, lost the previously accorded support of 
a large number of constituencies, especially in the province of 
Ontario. 

There were, however, many contested elections. The inves- 
tigation of these had, by an Act of the previous session, been 
removed from the jurisdiction of a parliamentary committee, 
and referred to the civil courts. The hearing of the protests, 
however, was postponed, from the inability of the judges to 
overtake the work, till after the summer parliamentary recess. 
Parliament met on the 26th of March. The Hon. T. W. 
Anglin of New Brunswick, was elected Speaker of the House 
of Commons, and the Hon. David Christie was appointed 
president of the Senate. Arrangements were made for the 
publication of a Canadian *' Hansard," containing the official 
report of the proceedings of parliament. 

The Government had a larger numerical following than that 
of any previous ministry in Canada. It was claimed that in a 
House of two hundred and six members, three-fourths were 
supporters of the administration. The Hon. George Brown, 
and the Hon. E. W. Scott, entered the Dominion Senate. 
Before the parliament met, Mr. Blake, who, under a temporary 
arrangement, held office without portfolio, resigned. 

Mr. Louis Kiel having been elected representative for Prov- 
encher, in Manitoba, appeared in Ottawa and signed the roll of 
the House, taking the oath required of its members. Mr. 
Mackenzie Bowell moved his expulsion from parliament as a 
*' fugitive from justice," a true bill having been found against 
him as one of the murderers of Thomas Scott, by the grand 
jury of Manitoba, and sentence of outlawry pronounced. 
Evidence substantiating these facts was taken at the bar of the 
House, and the sentence of expulsion was almost unanimously 
carried, only two members voting against it. Eiel was subse- 
quently re-elected by the same constituency of Provencher, but 
did not again attempt to take his seat. 

The session was a short but busy one. Sir Hugh Allan had 
found himself unable, on behalf of the Pacific Eailway Com- 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 



561 



pany, to obtain the money in England for the construction of 
the road, and resigned the charter into the hands of the Gov- 
ernment. A new Pacific Kailway Act was therefore passed, 
empowering the Government to construct the road in sections, 
and to make use of the water-stretches on the route till the 




entire road should be completed. The Lake Superior terminus 
was fixed at the mouth of the Kaministiquia, Thunder Bay, — 
a safe harbour on a majestic roadstead guarded by the stately 
71 



562 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

bluff, Thunder Cape, a mass of basaltic rock, rising thirteen 
hundred feet in air. 

A more stringent Controverted Elections Act than that of 
1872 was passed, which contributed very greatly to electoral 
purity, and the suppression of corrupt practices. A bill was 
also passed for re-organizing the militia and for establishing a 
military college at Kingston. Numerous petitions were pre- 
sented to the House, praying for the abolition of the liquor 
traffic. The Government appointed a royal commission to 
investigate the operation of the prohibitory law in those States 
of the American Union where it had been introduced. The 
report of this commission established the fact of the general 
repression of crime and pauperism where the prohibition of 
the traffic had been enforced. 

Mr. Cartwright, the Finance Minister, announced an antici- 
pated deficit in the public revenue, which he proposed to meet 
by an increase of the customs duties from fifteen to seventeen 
and a half per cent. He also effected a Dominion loan of 
$20,000,000 in the London money market at favourable rates. 
After the summer vacation, protests against the contested 
elections were heard. The new election law was found to be 
prompt, impartial, and effective in its operation. Every mem- 
ber whose election was protested against was unseated, some- 
times on purely technical grounds ; but all but three who offered 
themselves were re-elected. The introduction of the ballot 
contributed. very greatly to electoral purity. The elections for 
the voided seats largely occupied public attention for the 
remainder of the year. 

During the summer negotiations were carried on between Sir 
Edward Thornton, British minister at Washington, and the Hon. 
George Brown, representing Canada, and the Hon. Mr. Fish, 
Secretary of the United States, for the renewing of a reciprocity 
treaty. On the 23d of June, a draft of a treaty, which had 
been approved by the Governments of Great Britain and Canada 
as the best that could be effected under the circumstances, 
although by no means so advantageous to Canadian interests as 
was desirable, was submitted by President Grant to the United 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 563 

States Senate ' ' for advice." It was, however, ultimately vetoed, 
by that body. Its failure caused little regret in Canada, so 
unfavourable were its conditions. 

In the Ontario parliament a mass of useful legislation was 
accomplished. The Public-School Act was consolidated. The 
representation of the province was re-adjusted. Six new seats 
were created, increasing the number of members to eighty- 
eight. The surplus in the treasury arising from accumulated 
Dominion subsidy, crown land and other revenue, amounted to 
over $4,000,000. 

During the summer Lord Dufferin made an extended tour 
through the ujjper lakes, and evinced his deep interest in the 
magnificent scenery and grand resources of that portion of the 
Dominion. During a brief visit at Chicago, he accepted the 
hospitality of the city, and reciprocated the expressions of inter- 
national courtesy which he received. 

In the North-west the Qu'Appelle treaty was concluded with 
the Indians having territorial rights between Fort Ellice and 
the South Saskatchewan, which, in consideration of generous 
reserves and annual presents, extinguished the Indian title to 
seventy-five thousand square miles, and prepared the way for 
its future settlement. Previous treaties had ceded the whole 
of Manitoba and the Kewatin District. A considerable immi- 
gration of Mennonites and Icelanders took place into the prov- 
ince of Manitoba. They received generous Government aid 
and favourably situated grants of land. 

One of the chief social events of the year was the marriage 
of the Duke of Edinburgh with the daughter of the Emperor 
of Russia, an alliance which seemed the pledge of the renewal 
of an international friendship, unhappily interrupted by the 
disastrous Crimean war. 

Early in the year the province of Ontario elected its third 
Legislative Assembly. Additional interest was felt in the elec- 
tion from the fact that voting by ballot was for the first time 
introduced. No less than twenty-four petitions were filed 
against members elect, under the provisions of the Controverted 
Elections Act. The result of the trials, however, did not mate- 



564 HISTORY OF C AX AD A. , 

rially affect the balance of parties. Though many seats were 
voided, this seems to have been generally the effect of minor 
violations of an extremely stringent law, rather than from any 
grave or general attempt at electoral corruption. 

Canadian readers of the daily press followed with especial 
interest the victorious career of Sir Garnet Wolseley in his 
conduct of the Ashantee war, and the capture, early in the year, 
of the barbarian stronghold of Coomassie. The military skill 
that had been exhibited in penetrating the wilderness of Canada 
was still more strikingly manifested in conquering the difficul- 
ties of the African jungle. 

The Dominion parliament assembled on the 4th of February. 
1875. The session, though short, was busy. A prominent sub- 
ject of discussion was that of granting an amnesty to persons 
inculpated in the disturbances in the North-west territories dur- 
ing the years 1869 and 1870. Lepine, the associate of Eiel in 
the insurrection, had been tried before Chief-Justice Wood of 
Manitoba, for the murder of Scott, and had been found guilty 
and sentenced to death. Petitions were presented for his 
reprieve, and the question of general amnesty became the sub- 
ject of a prolonged and animated debate. The policy of the 
Government qualified the amnesty with regard to the two prin- 
cipal agents in the insurrection, Kiel and Lepine, by imposing 
on them banishment from the country for the period of five 
years. This was sustained by a vote in the House of one hun- 
dred and twenty-six yeas to fifty nays. Eiel was disqualified 
from sitting in the House of Commons,. having been declared 
an outlaw by the Court of Queen's Bench, and a writ was issued 
for a new election. O'Donohue, in consequence of his inculpa- 
tion in the Fenian invasion of Manitoba in 1871, was excluded 
altogether from the jDrivileges of the amnesty. 

Another important piece of legislation was the constitution 
of a Supreme Court of Appeal for the Dominion.* The pro- 
visions for improved postal service and free delivery of letters 

* It was composed of Chief-Justice Richards and the puisne judges, Mr. Jus- 
tice Strong, Hon. T. Fournier, Mr. Justice Taschereau, Hon. Mr. Henry, Q. C, 
and Chief-Justice Ritchie of New Brunswick. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 565 

in cities ; and the legislation on banJ^s and banking, insurance, 
railway traffic, and other subjects of a like practical nature, 
were of much benefit to the mercantile community. A bill 
sanctioning the construction by the Dominion Government of a 
railway in Vancouver's Island, in accordance with an agreement 
with the province of British Columbia, was passed by the Com- 
mons, but was thrown out by the Senate. 

A postal convention was concluded with the United States, 
providing for the transmission of letters and papers from either 
country to the other at single instead of double postage rates. 
Additional facilities were also given for the diffusion of intelli- 
gence by the large reduction of .postage on periodicals. 

Some imi^ortant changes took place in the personnel of the 
Government. The Hon. Edward Blake accepted office as 
Minister of Justice, the Hon. J. E. Cauchon became President 
of the Council, the Hon. L. S. Huntington became Postmaster- 
General, the Hon. Felix Geoffrion became Minister of Inland 
Eevenue, and the Hon. W. B. Vail, formerly a member of the 
Government of Nova Scotia, became Minister of Militia ; the 
previous occupants of these offices having received civil or legal 
appointments. 

During the summer Lord Dufferin visited Great Britain, and 
in an eloquent address before the Canada Club, which was 
warmly responded to by the country, and which attracted much 
attention from the English press, highly eulogized the Dominion, 
and vindicated its claims upon the regard of the mother country. 
A loan of £2,500,000 sterling was effected in the London 
money market, at rates that showed the favourable estimate of 
Canadian securities. A severe monetary stringency, however, 
which has cdntinued with slight alleviation to the present time, 
led to much commercial and manufacturing depression, causing 
many insolvencies, and leading to a wise and necessary de- 
crease in importation, although at the cost of a lessened customs 
revenue. 

In the North-west Territory .tne presence of an efficient force 
of three hundred mounted police, and the appointment of sti- 
pendiary magistrates, ensured the preservation of peace and 



566 



mSTORT OF CANADA. 



order throughout those wide regions, and prevented the evils 
of the liquor traffic — that bane of their race — among the 
Indian tribes. A steamboat successfully sailed up the Sas- 
katchewan Kiver, the pioneer of the great commercial fleet that 
shall yet navigate those inland waters. Successful negotiations 
were also opened with the Plain Indians of the far West, with a 
view to the visits of commissioners and the formation of treaties 
with them. 

The railway interests of the Dominion suffered from a con- 
siderable reduction of traffic consequent on the depressed state 
of trade, both in the United States and Canada. The Canada 
Southern Eailway came under the control of Commodore Van- 
derbilt by purchase. A severe attack was made on the Cana- 
dian railway system in the London papers by Mr. Potter, the 
president of the Grand Trunk Railway. As a consequence, 
the promoters of a direct line from Quebec to Montreal and 
Ottawa were unable to effect the necessary loan in the London 
money market. The Quebec Government, however, resolved 
to assume the construction of the road, which will open up a 
valuable section of country, and will prove an important link 
in the inter-oceanic railway communication. 

The tendency to ecclesiastical consolidation, an indirect 
result of the political confederation, was illustrated by the 
union of all the Presbyterian Churches of the Dominion, 
following shortly on that of three branches of the Methodist 
Church. 

In two of the principal cities of the Dominion, unhappy riots 
occurred, which produced intense excitement throughout the 
countr3^ In Montreal, an attempt to bury the remains of 
Joseph Guibord, in accordance with an order of the Privy 
Council of England, in the Catholic cemetery, from which they 
had been interdicted by ecclesiastical censure, was for a time 
frustrated by mob violence. The presence of a strong civil 
and military force, and the pacific counsels of the Catholic 
clergy, prevented any outbreak of violence on a second attempt, 
when the interment took place without interruption. 

A few weeks later, in the city of Toronto, a Catholic proces- 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 567 

sion proceeding from church to church was attacked ou two 
successive Sundays, — September 26 and October 3, — by a 
lawless mob. On the second occasion the procession was 
escorted by a strong force of police, a military corps being 
held in reserve. Several stubborn conflicts took place between 
the mob and the police, in which stones were freely used, 
several pistol-shots fired, and many persons seriously injured. 
The riot, however, was rigorously suppressed by the civic 
authorities, and many of the rioters were arrested, tried, and 
sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. 

The military college at Kingston, for the education of officers 
of the Canadian militia, was successfully inaugurated in accord- 
ance with an Act of the Dominion Legislature ; and a new 
normal school for the training of teachers was opened at 
Ottawa under the auspices of the Ontario Government. The 
Prince Edward Island Eailway was also opened under the 
management of the Dominion authorities. 

By a graceful act of justice, the surviving veterans of the 
war of 1812-14, nearly three thousand in number, received a 
handsome gratuity, by vote of the Dominion parliament, in 
recognition of their patriotic services. 

During the year the country was called upon to mourn the 
death of one of her most distinguished sons, Sir William 
Logan, the eminent geologist. In the month of May also died 
the Hon. John Crawford, the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, 
greatly respected by all classes of the community. He was 
succeeded in office by the Hon. Donald Macdonald, previously 
Postmaster-General of the Dominion. 

In New Brunswick, the enforcement of the public-school law 
led to a disturbance and loss of life at Caraquet, and to the 
trial and conviction of the chief ofienders. The separate school 
difficulty in that province, — which was the occasion of much 
acrimonious debate in the Dominion parliament during several 
sessions, and which involved constitutional issues of the 
gravest importance as to the relations of the provincial and 
federal Governments, — deserves a somewhat detailed recapitu- 
lation. In 1871, the legislature of New Brunswick passed a 



568 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

Common-School Act, making assessment compulsory, and 
enacting that all schools, to be entitled to aid from the public 
funds, must be non-sectarian. The immediate effect of this 
Act was to deprive all denominational academies and schools of 
the legislative grants which they had previously received. 

The ninety-third clause of the British North America Act 
gives to the provincial legislatures the exclusive right to make 
laws on the subject of education, but with the provision that 
nothing in any such law shall limit any privileges existing at 
the time of the union. The Catholic minority of New Bruns- 
wick asserted that this exception to the education clause of the 
Union Act guaranteed their right to legislative grants for their 
denominational schools. They therefore petitioned the Privy 
Council to advise the Governor-General to disallow the Com- 
mon-School Act of the New Brunswick legislature. The Privy 
Council, however, declined so to advise His Excellency, the 
Minister of Justice, Sir John A. Macdonald, contending that 
the jurisdiction of New Brunswick was supreme in the matter, 
and that the exception to the education clause of the Union 
Act did not apply to the case. 

This decision proving exceedingly unsatisfactory to the 
petitioners, Mr. Chauveau, the member for Quebec County, 
moved a resolution in the Dominion parliament, praying the 
Queen to cause an Act to be passed amending the Act of Union, 
in the sense understood by the petitioners, with respect to 
educational matters. Hereupon the Government of New 
Brunswick sent to the Privy Council an emphatic protest 
against what it considered the threatened infringement of the 
constitutional right of the province to legislate on all educa- 
tional matters, free from interference from the Dominion par- 
liament. Mr. Chauveau's motion was lost by a vote of one 
hundred and twenty-six to thirty-four ; but a motion was car- 
ried expressing a hope that the public-school law of New 
Brunswick might be modified so as to remove the discontent of 
a portion of the inhabitants. To this motion a rider was 
appended, referring the legal aspects of the question to the 
law officers of the crown. These officers confirmed the decision 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 569 

of the Privy Council, in which opinion they were corroborated 
by the judgment of the Supreme Court of New Brunswick, in 
a case of appeal against the compulsory assessment clause in the 
new School Act. 

In the general election of 1872, the New Brunswick School 
Act was in a large degree a test question at the polls. In the 
first session of the second Dominion parliament, a resolution 
was carried in favour of an appeal to the Privy Council of 
England ; and, the following year, after the change of Govern- 
ment, a vote of $5,000 was granted to defray the expenses of 
the appeal. The same year, the people of New Brunswick 
entered their vigorous protest against the interference of the 
Dominion parliament in matters within the jurisdiction of the 
provincial legislature. The elections for a new local legislature 
turned upon this question. Out of forty-one representatives, 
only five were returned in the interest of the minority in favour 
of a separate school law. 

The Attorney-General of the province, the Hon. J. E. King, 
proceeded to London to defend the acts of the Government 
before the Privy Council of England. That highest court in 
the realm dismissed the appeal, and sustained the constitution- 
ality of the New Brunswick school law. Much exasperation 
was felt on the part of the minority. Several persons refused 
to pay the obnoxious school-tax, except under pressure of dis- 
traint and sale of goods. In 1875, as already mentioned, a 
serious riot took place at Caraquet, Gloucester County. Some 
rate-payers met at a school-house to vote money for school 
purposes. A party of French habitans broke up the meeting, 
and took possession of the building. In endeavouring to sup- 
press the riot, one of the officers of the law, and one of the 
rioters, were shot dead, and the militia had to be called out to 
restore public order. During the session of 1875, the Domin- 
ion parliament consented, by a large majority, to an address to 
the Queen, praying Her Majesty to use her influence with the 
legislature of New Brunswick to procure such a modification of 
the School Act as would remove any just ground of discontent 
to any portion of the population. 
72 



570 HISTORY OF C AX ADA. 

In Prince Edward Island, in 1875, the elections for the local 
legislature turned almost exclusively upon the school question. 
The result of the contest was the return of a large majority of 
the candidates in favour of the non-sectarian as opposed to the 
denominational school system. The Government thereupon 
resigned, and was succeeded by a new ministry under the 
premiership of the Hon. Louis H. Davies. 

The third session of the Dominion parliament assembled on 
1876. the 10th of February, and continued in session for nine 
weeks. The actual amount of legislation was not great, but 
some important measures passed the House. A re-adjustment 
of terms was made by the Government with Manitoba, by 
which that province abolished its Upper Chamber or Legisla- 
tive Council of seven members, and received an annual grant 
of $90,000 for governmental expenses. Provision Was also 
made for the separation of a portion of the North-west Terri- 
tory for administrative purposes, under the authority of a 
Lieutenant-Governor, assisted by a new North-west Council 
consisting of five members. To this office the Hon. David 
Laird of Prince Edward Island, who had previously success- 
fully negotiated the Qu 'Appelle treaty, was appointed. * 
A portion of the territory north and east of Manitoba was 
erected into the District of Kewatin, — the '* North-land," — 
and ]3laced under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant-Governor 
of the "prairie province." Provision was also made for the 
ratifying of treaties with the Indian tribes, and for the encour- 
agement of immigration into the territory. 

In consequence of the continued commercial depression, the 
subject of a protective or revenue tariff had been warmly dis- 
cussed during the recess. These discussions were renewed 
with much energy in the House. In view of a prospective de- 
ficiency in the revenue, it was anticipated that the customs 

* He was succeeded as Minister of the Interior by the Hon. David Mills, and, 
later in the year, the Hon. Felix Geoffrion ■was compelled by ill-health to relin- 
quish the office of Minister of Internal Eevenue to the Hon. Toussaint E. 
Laflamme. The Hon. L. Letellier de St. Just, toward the close of the year, was 
appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec. He was succeeded as Minister of 
Agriculture by the Hon. Charles A. P. Pelletier. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 571 

tariff would be advanced, thus giving a further incidental pro- 
tection to .the manufacturers. Mr. Cartwright's budget, how- 
ever, introduced February 25th, met the difficulty by a 
retrenchment in the expenditure to the amount of two and a 
half millions. The fiscal policy of the Government was strongly 
attacked on several occasions, but the ministry was sustained 
by large majorities. 

The provisions of the * ' Shipping Bill " of the Imperial par- 
liament having infringed on the prerogative of Canada, repre- 
sentations were made to the Home Government guarding the 
rights of colonial ship-owners, and leading to modifications 
which made the bill more acceptable. 

During the early part of the summer the Intercolonial Rail- 
way was opened for travel and traffic. The magnificence of the ' 
scenery through which it passes has attracted much attention, 
and the increased facilities given to intercolonial trade cannot 
fail to strengthen the bonds of union between the maritime and 
western provinces. The opening of the road considerably 
lessened the time of transit of European mails to and from the 
West. 

The public works of the Dominion were pressed forward with 
vigour, and a very large amount of work has been accomplished 
on the new constructions and excavations of the Welland and 
St. Lawrence canals. Several contracts were let for the con- 
struction of the Canada Pacific Eailway, and considerable 
progress has been made on some of the sections of this gigantic 
project. Large quantities of steel rails were purchased and laid 
down at convenient depots for distribution ; but the commercial 
policy of the Government in their purchase in a falling market 
has been made the subject of severe criticism. Telegraphic 
and postal communication along the projected line of railway, 
and in the newer portions of the Dominion, has been much 
extended, and will contribute greatly to the facilitation of 
business. 

The United States Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia 
attracted large numbers of Canadian visitors. The position 
occupied by Canada in that great industrial congress of the 



572 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

nations, was in the highest degree creditable to the skill and 
energy of her people, and was to multitudes an unexpected 
revelation of the extent and magnificence of her resources. 
Foremost of the provinces in variety, richness and beauty of 
exhibits, was Ontario. Its educational department especially, 
with one exception perhaps, by far the best in the vast palace 
of industry, challenged universal attention and admiration. It 
is just ground for patriotic pride, that in this highest outcome 
of civilization our country takes the lead of the world, and far 
surpasses so many countries much older and much richer in 
material wealth. 

The mechanical industries and manufactures of Canada also 
commanded wide recognition, and in some- cases extensive 
patronage. Among the foreign patrons were Turkish purchasers 
of large amounts of iron manufactures, notwithstanding the 
domestic convulsions and revolt of Christian populations in 
the Ottoman Empire. 

Increased vigour was given to the educational administration 
of Ontario, by the appointment of a minister of the crown to 
its superintendence, the Hon. Adam Crooks having, early in the 
year, accepted the office of Minister of Education, in connec- 
tion with that of Provincial Treasurer, which he previously held. 

In the month of August their Excellencies, Lord and Lady 
Dufferin and suite, made a visit to the province of British Co- 
lumbia by way of the American Pacific Eailway. They were 
received with demonstrations of loyal enthusiasm in the western- 
most province of the Dominion, and were impressed with the 
sublimity of its scenery, the extent and importance of its vast 
natural resources, and the magnificent promise of its future. 
Before leaving the country His Excellancy gave an admirable 
address in justification of policy of the Canadian Government 
with reference to the construction of the Pacific Railway. For 
this address, which was most happily adapted to allay the irri- 
tation of the province * at what was considered the violation of 

* Early in the year the Government of British Columbia was defeated on a 
motion of disapproval of its relations to the Dominion Government, m view of 
the default of Canada to fulfil the pledges of the treaty of union, and a new 
ministry was formed, with the Hon. A. C. Elliott as premier. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 



573 



pledges on the part of Canada, Lord Dufferin received the 
thanks of the Secretary of State for the Colonies of Her Majes- 
ty's Imperial Government. 

The development of the business of the country under the 




stimulus of confederation, led to the necessity of greater accom- 
modation for its transaction in the great commercial centres. 
In the city of Montreal, the handsome ne^7 post-office shown in 



the engraving was erected. 



574 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 



The Bank of Montreal, also shown in the engraving, is 

surpassed in elegance of 
architecture, and in finan- 
cial success, by few bank- 
ing institutions in the 
world. 

The rapid commercial 
development of the city 
of Toronto was seen in 
the construction of large 
blocks of wholesale stores, 
consequent upon the 
growth of the railway 
system of the province, 
and the extension of trade 
with the interior. 

To accommodate the in- 
creasing business of the 
new custom-house shown in 




NEW CUSTOM-HOUSE, TOEONTO. 



city, the large and handsome 
the engraving was erected. 

It is a noble structure of 
elaborately carved stone, 
and would challenge admi- 
ration in any European 
capital. It is elegantly 
ornamented with a large 
number of well-executed 
medallion busts of distm- 
guished navigators and ex- 
plorers. 

Greater postal facilities 
were also demanded by the 
growth of correspondence, 
consequent on the exten- 
sion of trade and increase 
of population ; and, by the post-office, Toronto. 

remarkable development of newspaper and other periodical 




THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATIONS 



hi 6 



publications. These facilities were furnished by the new post- 
office building, and by more frequent mail service and free- 
letter delivery. 

The growth of architectural taste in the cities is seen in the 




YOUKG MEN'S CHRISTIAlsr ASSOCIATION BUILDESTG, MONTREAL. 

greatly improved character of their public buildings, both 
ecclesiastical and civil. Many of these are of an exceedingly 
elegant, and, indeed, magnificent style of architecture. The 
city of Montreal possesses especial pre-eminence in this 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 



respect, — the stone "which is almost exclusively employed 
giving its churches, banks, and other public buildings a noble 

and stately appearance. The 
handsome building of the 
Young Men's Christian As- ' 
sociation, shown in the ac- 
companying engraving, may 
be accepted as a typical ex- 
ample. 

The railway extension of 
Northern Ontario, and the 
opening up and settlement 
of new townships promoted 
thereby, makes the city of 
Toronto the great commer- 
cial centre and shipping port 





UNION STATION, TORONTO. 

of the province. The tran- 
shipment of grain, lumber 
and produce, and rafting 
of timber, largely takes 
place in its harbour. To 
furnish the requisite ac- 
commodation for its in- 
creasing passenger -traffic, 
the Grand Trunk Railway 
Company built the capa- 
cious and elegant Union 
Station shown in the en- 
graving, which is the hand- 
somest and most commo- st. j-^.ies' cathedral, Toronto. 

dious structure of the sort in the Dominion. 



TEE MACKENZIE ADMIN ISTRATIOX. 



577 



Scarce any city of its size on the continent will compare 
with Toronto in the num- 
ber and elegance of its 
churches. Of these we 
give a few examples. St. 
James' Cathedral (Angli- 
can), was erected during 
the episcopate of thoEev. 
Dr. Strachan, and is a 
monument of his untiring 



zeal and energ}''. It is ^^3S^^^^ 



the third church which 
has occupied the site, an] 
is one of the most elegant 
specimens of Gothic arch- 
itecture on the continent. 





METKOPOLITAN CHURCH, TORONTO. 



Its spire is the tallest in 
America, being three hun- 
dred and six feet high, twen- 
ty-one feet higher than that 
of Trinity Church, New 
York. 

The Metropolitan Church 
(Methodist), is a memorial 
of the residence in Canada 
of the Eev. W. Morley Pim- 
shon, LL. D., by whom it 
was projected. The com- 
manding eloquence, the re- 
markable administrative abil- 
jARVis ST. BAPTIST CHXJRCH, TORONTO, jty, aud thc iutenso energy of 
this distinguished divine have greatly promoted the prosperity 
73 



578 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

of the church with which he was connected. Amons: the eccle- 
siastical movements with which he was prominently identified 
are the union of the Wesleyan and New Connection Methodists, 
the raisiLg of a liberal endowment for Victoria University, and 
the establishment of a Canadian mission in Japan , — all of 
which, by their success, have signally justified the wisdom by 
which they were projected. 

The Jarvis Street Baptist Church is one of the most elegant 
ecclesiastical structures in the Dominion. It possesses an 
advantage over both of the others mentioned, in the more 
durable material of which it is built, being constructed chiefly 
of Queen ston and Ohio stone. There are also several new 
Presbyterian churches, of great beauty of design and costliness 
of execution. 

We resume now our chronological record of recent events. 

The approach of the new year found the business of the 
1877. country disorganized by a strike of the engine-drivers 
of the Grand Trunk Eailway, directed, it was alleged, by the 
Engineers' Brotherhood of the United States. The mails were 
delayed, freight and passenger traffic interrupted, and, in some 
cases, wanton injury done to the engines by the strikers. The 
intervention of the volunteer militia had to be invoked before 
the interruption of travel ceased. 

The Dominion Parliament met on the 8th of February, and 
continued in session till the 28th of April. A deficit in the 
revenue was announced, amounting to nearly two million dol- 
lars. The debates were characterized by a good deal of 
asperity. The Opposition proposed, as censures upon the 
administration, a series of amendments to the motion to go 
into committee of supply ; but the Government was sustained 
by large majorities. The continued commercial and manu- 
facturing depression caused the chief interest to centre around 
the debate on the question of a protective or revenue tariff and 
free trade. It was L^re that the most strenuous conflict of the 
session took place. Sir John A. Macdonald moved a resolution 
expressing regret that the financial policy of the Government 
increased the burthen of taxation, witnout compensating advan- 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 579 

tages to Canadian industries, and urging such a re-adjustment of 
tariff as would benefit and foster the agricultural, manufactur- 
in"-, and mining interests of the Dominion. After a protracted 
debate, however, the motion was defeated by a majority of 
fcrty-nine. The chief legislation of the session was the consti- 
tution of a new court of maritime jurisdiction, a comprehensive 
extradition Act, an amended insurance Act, and numerous 
amendments to the criminal law.* During the recess, politi- 
cal ' ' picnics " were held throughout the country in the interest 
of both parties, and were addressed by leading Ministerial and 
Opposition speakers. 

In the province of Ontario, the important work of consoli- 
dating the statutes was brought to a close. The Hon. Adam 
Crooks finding the duties of Minister of Education engross his 
energies, resigned the Treasurership, and was succeeded by the 
Hon. S. C. Wood, Provincial Secretary. Mr. Hardy, M. P. 
for South Brant, took the vacant portfolio of Mr. Wood, thus 
giving an additional member to the cabinet. 

Unusual activity was manifested in the temperance cause. 
A vigorous agitation in favour of the Dunkin Act by-laws, 
resulted in their being carried in thirteen municipalities in 
Ontario and Quebec, and in their defeat in seven others. A 
great moral education on the subject of temperance was the 
result of the discussions on the platform and in public jour- 
nals, and an organized temperance movement obtained the 

* In the Dominion Cabinet several changes took place. The state of the Hon. 
Edward Blake's health rendering his relief from departmental duties necessary, 
he relinquished the portfolio of Minister of Justice, to become President of the 
Council, in the place of the Hon. Joseph E. Cauchon. That gentleman became 
Minister of Internal KeTcnue, vice the Hon. T. E. Laflamme, who succeeded 
Mr. Blake as Minister of Justice. On the expiration of the term of office of the 
Hon. Alexander Morris, as Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, he was succeeded 
by the Hon. Joseph E. Cauchon, whose vacant portfolio was taken by the Hon. 
WUfrid Laurier. The new minister was defeated in Drummond and Artha- 
baska, but was elected by a large majority in Quebec East. The Committee of 
Privileges and Elections reported the seat of the Hon. T. W. Anglin, Speaker 
of the House of Commons, vacant in consequence of a violation of the Independ- 
ence of Parliament Act, through his interest in an office in which Government 
printing was done. The report was received too late for adoption ; but Mr. 
Anglin resigned, and was re-elected. 



580 HISTORY OF CAXADA. 

signatures of many thousands of persons to a total-abstinence 
pledge. 

During the summer, their Excellencies the Earl and Countess 
of Duiferin visited the province of Manitoba. The admirable 
addresses of Lord Dufferin at Winnepeg, and in the Icelanders' 
settlement, captivated the hearts of his hearers, and eloquently 
depicted the almost boundless extent and immense resources of 
the Dominion of Canada. Large shipments of prairie-wheat 
from the " garden province," were an earnest of its vast future 
contributions to the food-supply of the world. The population 
of the province has also largely increased, by an intelligent 
Canadian and foreign immigration. 

Notwithstanding the continued depression in trade, indi- 
cations were not wanting of the progress of the country. 
The very creditable display of Canadian goods at the Sydney 
Exhibition gave promise of a remunerative trade with the 
Antipodes. A rapid developmeiit has taken place in the 
exportation to Great Britain of Canadian meat, live-stofck, and 
dairy produce, — a trade which is capable of indefinite expan- 
sion. The traffic on our great railways also exhibits a marked 
increase. 

An active effort is taking place, with promise of success, to 
make Halifax, with its unrivalled harbour, a winter grain-port. 
Considerable progress has also been made in the surveys and 
construction of the Pacific Eailway. 

A great calamity, in the month of June, befell the province 
of New Brunswick, in the destruction, by fire, on the 20th of 
June, of a large part of its flourishing seaport, St. John. Two- 
fifths of the city, or over sixteen hundred houses, occupying 
two hundred acres of ground, were consumed. The burnt 
district comprised the most important part of the city, — the 
great wholesale houses, banks, hotels, new post-office and cus- 
tom-house, its best churches and finest private buildings. The 
fire was far more disastrous, in proportion to the size of the 
city, than that of either Chicago or Boston. A spontaneous 
outburst of sympathy, and proffers of help from all parts of the 
Dominion, from Great Britain, and from the United States, 




BOSTON, B.B.RUSSELL. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMIX 1ST RATION. 581 

veiy greatly mitigated the sufferings of the victims of this dis- 
aster. * 

The energy and enterprise of the merchants of St. John 
at once essayed the task of rebuilding their ruined city. 
Already, " like the phoenix from its ashes," it is rising, fairer 
than before ; stately blocks of buildings like that shown in the 
engraving already grace what was a j'ear ago a mound of ruins, f 

* Among the money donations were the following : Dominion. Government, 
$20,000 ; Citj- of Toronto, $20,000 ; Glasgow, Scotland, $19,000 ; New York, 
$17,000 ; Chicago, $15,000 ; Liverpool, Eng., $14,600 ; Hamilton, Ont., $13,900 ; 
Bangor, Me., $12,000 ; Portland, Me., $10,500 ; Fredericton, $10,000 ; Halifax, 
$10,000 ; Philadelphia, $6,500 ; San Francisco, $5,600 ; Boston, $5,000 ; Windsor, 
(N. S.), $4,287.—" Siory of the Great Fire." Steimrt. 

t The steel engraving accompanying this chapter presents the portraits of 
gentlemen distinguished for energy and liberality in the crisis of the Great 
Fire, of whom we here give brief sketches. 

The Hon. Samuel Leonard Tilley is descended from U. E. Loyalist stock. 
He was born at Gagetown, Queen's County, N. B., in 1818. He went to St. 
John in 1830, and was subsequently engaged in business there for nearly 
twenty years. Li 1850, he was elected to represent the city in the provincial 
legislature. In 1854, he became a member of the Government as leader of the 
Liberal party, and, with a few short intervals, continued a member of the 
Executive Council till the confederation of the provinces. During most of 
that period he was premier. As a member of the Charlottetown and Quebec 
conferences, he assisted in framing the Constitution of the Dominion. He was 
elected representative for St. John in the House of Commons, and, for six 
years, was a member of the Government as Minister of Customs, and later, as 
Minister of Finance ; filling the duties of each with great ability and practical 
sagacity. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of his native province in 
1873". He is an active temperance advocate, and carried his temperance prin- 
ciples with him into the Government House, — dispensing a generous hospi- 
tality without the aid of any kind of intoxicating liquor. At the news of the 
great fire, he at once j)ut himself in communication with his ministers to devise 
means for alleviating the distress. In the month of July he resigned the Lieu- 
tenant-Governorship, and again entered political life as Opposition candidate 
for the House of Commons. He was succeeded as Lieutenant-Governor by the 
Hon. Edward B. Chandler, a Commissioner of the Intercolonial Eailway, and, 
for sixteen years, a member of the Executive Council of New Brunswick. 

Sylvester Z. Eakle, M. D., is a native of New Brunswick; born at Hampton, 
in 1823. His father, S. Z. Earle, Esq., for many years represented King's 
County, N. B., in the provincial legislature. Dr. Earle studied with the cele- 
brated Valentine Mott of New York, and completed his medical education in 
Great Britain. In 1877, he was elected Mayor of St. John. He was an effi- 
cient member of the relief committee, and has again been elected, by accla^ 
mation, to the office of mayor. 

John Boyd, Esq., also an energetic member of the relief committee, is one of 



682 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 




THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 583 

One of the most notable events of the year 1877, was the 
meeting of the Fishery Commission at Halifax. At the expira- 
tion of the reciprocity treaty the Americans were notified that 
their fishing privileges in Canadian waters had ceased. Yield- 
ing to the wishes of the Imperial Government, however, 
the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, Hon. Peter Mitchell, 
adopted a system of fishing* licenses. In 1866, four hundred 
and fifty-four licenses were issued. But the American fisher- 
men ignored the rights of Canada, and, in 1869, only twenty- 
nine licenses were taken out. In 1870, a police for the pro- 
tection of the fisheries was organized, and the following year 

the most active and public-spirited citizens of St. John, and fe"w men, if any, 
in the province, \vield a vider and more beneficent influence. Mr. Boyd is a 
native of the North of Ireland, of sturdy Scottish Presbyterian stock. The old- 
established firm of Daniel & Boyd has been for forty years the synonym for 
honour, uprightness, and truth. Its partners have been foremost in every good 
■work and deed of charity, and many of the leading merchants of the province 
have received their business training as employes of the house. Mr. Boyd is 
an accomplished writer for the press, and has "won a wide popularity for the 
blended wit and wisdom of his public lectures. His great talents in this 
respect he most generously employs for philanthropic purposes, having raised 
by this means for public and private charities, nearly thirty thousand dollars, 
besides giving large personal contributions. As president of the St. John 
school-board, — one of the most important trusts of the city, — his wise coun- 
sels, liberal views, and conciliatory manners, contributed largely to the settle- 
ment of the disputes on educational matters between the Protestant and 
Eoman Catholic citizens. He was a heavy loser by the fire, but was one of the 
most active in alleviating the losses of others. 

Alexander Gibson, Esq., the " lumber king" of New Brunswick, is of Irish 
descent ; but was born at St. Andrews, N. B., in 1819. He began his remarkable 
business career as a poor boy, working with his hands in a saw-mill. His 
energy and enterprise led to his becoming, first a partner, then sole owner of a 
saw-mill at Leprean, N. B. The earnings of ten years enabled him, in 1864, to 
purchase the mill-property at Marysville, on the Nashwaak, near its junction 
with the St. John at Fredericton. This business has grown till it gives em- 
ployment during the winter season to not less than eight hundred men. Mr. 
Gibson's shipments of lumber from St. John have reached as high as a hundred 
and thirty million feet in a year. He is also one of the largest owners of tim- 
ber-lands in the province. The New Brunswick Railway, of which he has 
been president from its inception, is designed to extend from Gibson, opposite 
Fredericton, to Riviere du Loup. It has been built thus far by capital supplied 
principally by Mr. Gibson. He has also erected at a cost of §60,000, a singu- 
larly beautiful church of octagonal design, which he has presented as a free 
gift to the Methodist body. 



584 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

the whole matter was referred to the high joint commission at 
Washington. The Treaty of Washington threw open the 
fisheries of each country to the other for the term of twelve 
years, the amount of compensation for the alleged superior 
value of the Canadian fisheries to be decided by three commis- 
sioners, — one chosen by each Government, and a third by the 
two Governments jointly. Through various delays it was not 
till June, 1877, that this commission met at Halifax, N. S. 
It consisted of Sir A. T. Gait for Great Britain, the Hon. E. 
H. Kellogg for the United States, and His Excellency M. Del- 
fosse, Belgian Minister at Washington, The amount claimed 
by Canada, was $14,880,000. After exhaustive examination 
of documentary and oral evidence, the sum of $5,500,000 was 
awarded to be paid within twelve months by the United States. 
The Hon. E. H. Kellogg dissented from the award, and 
expressed a doubt whether one could be given without the 
unanimous consent of the entire commission. A good deal of 
feeling against the award has been manifested in the United 
States, but there is no ground for apprehending its repudia- 
tion. 

By this award the immense value of these fisheries has been 
recognised, and Canada retains the right to regulate the traffic 
in bait and supplies of the American fisherman, and the right to 
prohibit, at the close of the treaty period, all fishing within 
three miles from shore. 

On the 7th of February, the last session of the third parlia- 
1878. ment of the Dominion began. * The speech from the 
throne was largely retrospective in character, a natural result 
of the approaching close of Lord Dufferin's period of admin- 
istration. The debate on the address, in both the Senate and 
the House of Commons was animated, discursive, and pro- 

* The Hon. T. W. Anglin, the Speaker, having resigned his seat, was again 
returned during recess. It is a point of etiquette for new members to be pre- 
sented to the Speaker. Sir John A. Macdonald, therefore, objected to the 
nomination of Mr Anglin as Speaker, on the technical ground that he was not 
a full member of the House This objection, however, was overruled, and he 
was re-elected to that office. Duriug the recess, the Hon. Alfred Joues, Hali- 
fax, entered the Cabinet as Minister of Militia. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 585 

longed. The approach of the general elections seemed to have 
stimulated party feeling to unusual vigour, not to say acrimony. 
On the 22d of February, Mr. Cartwright submitted the budget 
without recommending any changes of tariff. In the animated 
debate which followed, Sir John A. Macdonald moved an 
amendment in favour of a *' national policy, which, by a judi- 
cious re-adjustment of tariff, would benefit and foster the agri- 
cultural, mining, manufacturing, and other interests of the 
Dominion." The amendment, however, was defeated by a vote 
of one hundred and fourteen to seventy-seven. 

The dismissal of the De Boucherville ministry by Lieutenant- 
Governor Lctellier De St. Just of Quebec, was the occasion of 
much animated discussion, not only in that province, but 
throuo-hout the Dominion. It was in turn denounced as a 
violent cou^ d'eiat, and defended as the exercise of a constitu- 
tional right. In the Dominion parliament, Sir John A. Mac- 
donald introduced a resolution of censure of the dismissal as 
*' unwise, and subversive of the position accorded to the 
advisers of the crown since the concession of the principle 
of responsible government to the British North American 
colonies." In a vigorous speech, he reviewed the constitu- 
tional points of the question ; but, on division, was defeated 
by a vote of one hundred and twelve to seventy. A continued 
sitting of the House, for twenty-seven hours, caused by an 
effort of the Opposition to procure an adjournment of the 
debate, to which the Government would not accede, was the 
occasion of much noisy and unparliamentary interruption of 
discussion. 

The principal legislative results of the session were the 
following: the Scott Temperance Act for the purpose of 
enabling municipalities to prohibit, by popular vote, the sale of 
liquor within their limits ; a bill for winding up insolvent fire 
and marine insurance companies ; a bill against carrying deadly 
weapons within proclaimed districts ; and a new election bill, 
which provides, among other things, for making the identifica- 
tion of ballots impossible. The Government bill to abolish 
the Keceiver-General's office, and to appoint a second law-offi- 
74 



586 HISTORY OF CAXADA. 

cer who should be a member of the cabinet and Attorney- 
General, was carried in the Commons by a large majority, but ' 
was defeated in the Senate. That body manifested much inde- 
pendence in its adverse criticism of Government measures, 
and especially of the Pacific Railway policy. An unfortunate 
contretemps, arising from question of privilege, raised by the 
Hon. Donald A. Smith of Selkirk, gave the close of the session 
a tumultuous and unparliamentary character. A more agreeable 
incident was the presentation of a complimentary address to 
Lord Dufferin, in view of the approaching close of his popular 
administration. * 

The session of the Ontario legislature was comparatively 
uneventful, although a large number of useful bills became 
law. Among these were : Acts establishing a new maritime 
court ; providing for the employment of prison labour outside 
of gaol walls ; providing for the issue of Government loans for 
draining purposes ; a joint-stock companies Act ; a civil ser- 
vice Act, and a great many private bills. The province 
shared in the prevailing commercial depression ; but, notwith- 
standing the great expenditure on capital account, there was 
still a very large surplus in the provincial treasury. 

In the province /Of Quebec, as we have already mentioned, 
the chief event of the year was the dismissal of his ministers 
by the Lieutenant-Governor. In justification of this act, it 
was alleged that the ministry, although sustained by a majority 
of both chambers of the legislature, had, without the authority 
of the Lieutenant-Governor, published in his name documents 
and proclamations which he had not signed ; presented mes- 
sages to the House, respecting which he had not been consulted ; 



* In the month of May, some little excitement was created hy another Fenian 
alarm. The militia department promptly prepared for emergencies. Arms 
and ammunition were served out to the volunteers on the frontier, and new 
batteries were created at Yarmouth, Digby, St. John, and Victoria, B. C, as a 
precaution against Russian or Fenian attack; but, happily, no occasion for 
their use occurred. In this mouth, also, took place the sudden death of the 
Hon. Allan Wilmot, ex-Governor of New Brunswick, — a statesman of rare 
ability, whose loss will be severely felt, not only by his own province, but by 
the entire Dominion. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATION. 587 

and introduced oppressive financial legislation against his 
advice. * Much popular discontent was manifested at the 
Government policy in the construction of the north shore rail- 
way, which was considered more lavish than the financial state 
of the country would justify ; and several bonuses voted for the 
road had been repudiated on account of the alleged violation of 
the conditions on which they had been granted. The legisla- 
tion to which exception was taken j)rovided for the payment of 
these bonuses by a direct tax levied on the people, to be col- 
lected, if necessary, by distraint and sale of their goods and 
chattels. The jurisdiction of the courts in the matter was set 
aside, and the decisions of the Executive were final, and, the 
Lieutenant-Governor affirmed, arbitrary and oppressive. A 
Stamp Act was also passed, without the Lieutenant-Governor's 
authority or consent, which taxed almost all business contracts. 

On the other hand, it was claimed that the Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, by giving signatures in blank, and permission by tele- 
gram to introduce the financial resolutions, had virtually given 
his consent thereto ; and that, if he disapproved the legislation 
of the House, he had the power to prevent its taking efi'ect. 
He was, moreover, accused of political animus in refusing his 
assent to certain appointments made by his ministers, and in 
the final dismissal of the cabinet, and appointment of their 
successors. 

The Hon. Henri Gustave Joly was called upon to form a 
cabinet, which he soon succeeded in doing, f The new min- 
istry was met by a vote of want of confidence, and promptly 
dissolved the House and appealed to the country. The elec- 
tion contest was very keen and close. The new parliament 

* See communication from the Lieutenant-Governor to the Governor-Gen- 
eral, laid before the Quebec Legislature, March 26, 1878. Under nine sub-sec- 
tious, the grievances of the Lieutenant-Governor against his ministers, are set 
forth. 

t It was constituted as follows : Hon. H. G. Joly, Premier and Minister of 
Public Works; Hon. D. A. Eoss, Attorney-General; Hon. Pierre Bachand, 
Treasurer ; Hon. F. C. S. Langiier, Commissioner of Crown Lands ; Hon. A. 
Chauveau, Solicitor-General; Hon. F. G. Marchaud, Provincial Secretary, 
and Hon. H. Starnes, President of the Council. 



588 BISTORT OF CANADA. 

met, June 4, amid a scene of intense excitement, — the ap- 
proaches to the House, and every standing place within, being 
densely crowded with eager spectators. The Government 
Tvas able to secure the election of Mr. A. Turcotte, a Con- 
servative, its candidate for Speaker, by a vote of thirty- 
three to thirty-two. That gentleman was bitterly assailed for 
alleged violation of pledges, but he avowed his intention of 
giving the Government an independent support. The House 
continued in session till the 20th of July, and the Government 
was sustained in almost every division by the casting vote of 
the Speaker. Its general policy was one of financial retrench- 
ment. An attempt to abolish the Legislative Council failed, 
and, just at the close of the session, an Act was passed for 
the prevention of party processions, a subject which was the 
occasion of intense excitement throughout the country. 

In the city of Montreal, the antagonism between the Orange 
and Roman Catholic parties had risen to an alarming height. 
On the 12th of July, 1877, although the Orangemen had 
relinquished their purpose of walking in procession, as a num- 
ber of them were returning from church, they were assailed by 
a mob, and one of them, T. Lett Hackett, was shot dead in the 
street. Four days later, he received a public funeral, a strong 
force of troops being under arms for its protection. During 
the year that followed, frequent collisions took place between 
the rival parties, in which blood was shed, and very bitter feel- 
ing engendered. The Orangemen avowed their intention of 
walking in procession to church on the 12th of July, .1878. 
Apprehending a breach of the peace, six magistrates of the 
city made a request for military aid to suppress any disturb- 
ance. Three thousand troops were held under arms, under the 
command of Major-Gencral Sclby Smith. Mr. Beaudry, the 
maj'or of the city, however, under authority of an obsolete 
statute for the suppression of illegal and seditious associations, 
swore in five hundred special constables, — many of whom, it 
was alleged, were violent auti-Orunge partisans, — for the pur- 
pose of preventing the procession. Several of the leaders of 
the Orange party were arrested, and subsequently arraigned in 



THE MACKENZIE ADMINISTRATIOX. 589 

a civil court on the charge of belonging to an illegal organi- 
zation. The Orangemen submitted, under protest, to this 
exhibition of force, and no procession took place. Intense 
irritation was felt at the interference with what was claimed as 
the exercise of a constitutional right. A serious collision sub- 
sequently took place, August 12, at Ottawa, between members 
of the antagonistic parties. Labour riots at Montreal and 
Quebec, during the year, also occasioned much disturbance. 

On the 1st of August, a commission of arbitrators between 
the Dominion, and the province of Ontario, as to the northern 
boundary of the province, met at Ottawa. The commissioners 
were Sir Edward Thornton, Chief Justice Harrison, and Sir 
Francis Hincks. After hearing counsel in the interests of both 
Governments, the northern boundary of Ontario was defined 
as being the southern shore of Hudson's Bay, the Albany 
River,. St. Joseph and Lonely Lakes, and English River, to a 
j)oint due north of the north-west angle of Lake of the 
Woods ; thence south to the American boundary. 

Extreme regret was felt throughout the country at the 
approaching departure of the Governor-General and his 
esteemed consort. They had won all hearts by the winning 
courtesy of their manners, and left pleasant recollections of 
their visits to every part of the Dominion, from the sea-girt 
peninsula of Nova Scotia to the Pacific jDrovince of British 
Columbia. Lord Dufierin had demonstrated the qualities of a 
wise constitutional Governor. In his public addresses he 
exhibited the wide vision and clear insight of a statesman, 
combined with the eloquence, the wit, and the brilliant fancy 
of the poet and the orator. 

The regret which was experienced at the departure of the 
Earl and Countess of Dufierin, was accompanied by a feeling 
of gratification that they were to be succeeded in their high 
place by the Marquis of Lome, and the Princess Louise. It 
was felt to be a pledge of the deep interest felt by Her Majesty 
the Queen, in the Dominion, that she chose to be represented 
among her Canadian subjects, in the person of her daughter 
and of her son-in-law. The domestic virtues and amiable 



590 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 




THE MARQUIS OF LORXE. 



character of the Princess, and the cultured taste and states- 
manly ability of the Marquis will command the love and 

admiration of all Canadian 
hearts, and will knit them still 
more firmly to the throne. 
The Marquis of Lome is de- 
scended from one of the oldest 
Scottish families, as well as one 
of the foremost in rank and in 
historic interest. Nine dukes 
and ten earls of Argyle lead 
us back to 1457, when the lat- 
ter title was created. In this 
august lineage were some of the 
greatest statesmen and high 
officers of the Scottish and Eng- 
lish crowns, including one mar- 
tyr for the Covenant. The 
present duke is also a distinguished philosopher and author. 
The Marquis of Lome was born in 1845, and married, in 1871, 
the Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Her Majesty the 
Queen, — this being the first instance of the marriage of the 
daughter of a reigning sovereign of England to a subject. He 
was educated at Eton, St. Andrew's, and Trinity College, 
Cambridge. In 1868, he was returned to the House of Com- 
mons for Argyleshire. In 1866, the Marquis made a tour 
through Hayti, Cuba, Jamaica, the United States, and Canada. 
lie is the author of several volumes of superior merit, in prose 
and verse. 

Her Majesty the Queen, has also manifested her sympathy 
with our country by a generous contribution towards the con- 
struction of the "Kent Gate," in the proposed Dufierin im- 
provements at Quebec, — a worthy commemoration of her 
father, the Duke of Kent, commander of the forces in that city 
in 1794. These improvements, when completed, will be a 
lasting memorial of our generous-hearted Governor-General, 
by whom they were projected. 



THE MACKENZIE ADMIN ISTRATIOJS. 691 

The loyalty of Canadians to the person and crown of their 
sovereio'n, was shown in their spontaneous offer to raise a 
brigade for foreign service when it seemed as if the vexed 
" Eastern Question" would involve the mother country in war 
with Eussia; and nowhere in the Empire was there more 
patriotic joy and pride at the triumphant manner in which 
Her Majesty's ministers returned from the Berlin Congress, 
bringing "peace with honour," and increased glory to the 
British name. 

On the 17th of August, a special issue of the " Canada 
Gazette " contained a proclamation ordering the dissolution of 
the Dominion parliament. The nominations were appointed 
to take place on the 10th of September, and the polling on the 
17th, except in Manitoba, where the nominations were to take 
place on the 19th. 

Great political activity was manifested during the summer, 
which became intensified as the time of the general election 
approached. In the public journals, and on the hustings, the 
merits of a revenue as compared with a protective tariff — which 
were popularly accepted as representing the policy respectively 
of the Ministerial and Opposition parties — were warmly dis- 
cussed. As these pages pass through the press, the electors 
are called upon to assert their prerogative of self-government, 
through their freely-chosen representatives to the Commons 
House of the Dominion parliament. 



692 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 



CHAPTER L. 

THE PROGEESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 




UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. 

Quebec— Seminary of St. Sulpice, Montreal, 1647 — S6minaire de Qu^ec, 
1663 — Fabrique Act, 1624 — School Legislation after tlie Union — Higher 
Education. 

Ontario. — Early School 'Legislation — Dr, Ryerson — Organization of Public- 
School System — Higher Education. 

Nova Scotia. — Elementary and Higher Education. 

New Brunswick.— Elementary and Higher Education. 

Progress of Education in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and British 
Columbia. 

NO factor in national prosperity is more important than that 
of tlie education of the people. This subject may, 
therefore, claim succinct treatment in a separate chapter. We 
will begm our review with the oldest province of the Domin- 
ion, Quebec. A prominent purpose of early French coloniza- 
tion was the conversion of the Indian tribes. The E-^collet 
and Jesuit Fathers, and Ursuline Nuns, therefore, devoted 



THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CAXADA. 593 

themselves with assiduity to the religious and secular instruc- 
tion of the native youth, as well as to those of French parent- 
age. As early as 1632, Pere Le Jeune began his educational 
work at Quebec with two pupils, — an Indian and a negro. 
Humble as were his labours, he would not exchange them, he 
said, for those of a professor in the first university of Europe. 
In 1639, jNIadame de la Peltrie and Marie Guyart founded the 
Ursuline Convent at Quebec. They were soon surrounded by 
a multitude of Indian children to whom they taught the hymns 
and prayers of the Church. 

In 1647, the Seminary of St. Sulpice was founded in Mon- 
treal, and, in 1663, the " Grande Seminaire de Quebec," by 
Mgr. Laval. Both of these were designed for the education of 
candidates for the priesthood. The ' ' Petit Seminaire " was 
established at the suggestion of Colbert, in 1668, for the train- 
ing of Huron lads. It failed to accomplish this purpose, but, in 
1688, we find sixty French youths in attendance. The Jesuit 
College at Montreal was established in 1728, and, nine years 
later, the " Freres Chretiens " became the teachers of a number 
of elementary schools in several parishes, assuming a distinctive 
garb as such. After the conquest, the ' ' College de Montreal " 
was established by the Sulpicians, in 1773. The Jesuit Order 
was suppressed in Canada in 1774, and, in 1789, a committee 
of the legislature recommended the establishment of elementary 
parish schools, with a provincial college at Quebec to be 
endowed out of the forfeited Jesuit estates, and to be open to 
Catholics and Protestants alike. This enlightened scheme, 
however, was opposed by the French ecclesiastics, and was not 
carried out. Education was at a very low ebb, for, towards the 
close of the century, the Due de la Rochefoucauld wrote from 
Quebec that ' ' the Canadian who could read was regarded as 
a phenomenon." ,In 1800, the forfeited Jesuit estates were 
assumed by the crown, and an efibrt was made by the legislature 
to devote them to purposes of education ; but, through apathy of 
the hahitansy or opposition of the ecclesiastics, with only very 
limited success. An educational report of 1824, states that 
" generally not above one-fourth of the entii-e population could 
75 



594 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

read ; and not above one-tenth of them could write even imper- 
fectly." This statement is corroborated by the proportion of 
," marks " occurring in the voluminous petitions presented to 
the legislature. To remedy this deplorable popular ignorance, 
the " Fabrique Act" was passed, in 1824, which provided for 
the establishment by the cure and church- wardens of each 
parish of one school for every hundred families. This Act is 
the foundation of the present school system of Quebec. 

" On the union of the provinces," writes Dr. Hodgins, '' a 
comprehensive measure was passed providing for a uniform 
system of public education for Ujjper and Lower Canada, and 
appropriating $200,000 a year for its maintenance. Dr. Mcil- 
leur, an active educationist, was appointed to superintend the 
Lower Canada schools. In 1843, this law was amended, and, 
in 1846, it was superseded by an improved measure, which 
first embodied the principle of compulsory taxation. This was, 
however, modified in 1849, so as to make it permissive. In 
1851, an attempt was made to establish a normal school. In 
1855, Dr. Meilleur gave place to Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, 
LL. D., who infused new life and energy into the school sys- 
tem of Lower Canada." Dr. Chauveau prepared important 
school Acts for the consolidation and improvement of the sys- 
tems of elementary and higher education. He also procured 
the establishment of normal schools at Montreal and Quebec. 
In 1867, he became Minister of Education in the Quebec Gov- 
ernment, which position he held till 1873, when he retired, and 
was succeeded by the Hon. Gideon Ouimet. 

Of the institutions of higher education, the more important 
are the following having university powers. McGill College, 
Montreal, founded by the will of the Hon. Peter McGill, in 
1811 ; but, owing to a legal difficulty, not chartered till 
1821. Dr. J. "W". Dawson, a distinguished scientist, is presi- 
dent. It possesses faculties of arts, law, medicine, and 
sciences. * Laval University and Seminary, Quebec, is a Roman 

* This bnilding is seen in tlie foregronnd of tlie vie-w of Montreal, on page 
446 — the building with the cupola and two wings. The one still nearer is the 
Meteorological Observatory. 



TEE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 595 

Catholic institution, with faculties of arts, law, and theolog;}'. 
And Bishop's College, Lennoxville, incorporated 1853, is under 
the control of the Ansrlican Church. 

O 

Ontario. In the province of Ontario (Upper Canada), 
from the very beginning of its history, the cause of education 
eng-aofed the attention of some of its most eminent scholars and 
public men, and was early made the subject of legislative 
enactment. In the year 1785, the Eev. Dr. Stewart oj)ened a 
classical school at Kingston. Soon after, a garrison school was 
established at that place, as also at other military posts. One 
of the enlio^htened schemes of Governor Simcoe was the estab- 
lishment of a provincial university, and of a grammar school in 
each district of the province. In 1797, the legislature, then 
sitting at York, memorialized King George for a grant of half 
a million acres of land for this purpose. The afterwards cele- 
brated Dr. Thomas Chalmers was invited to become principal 
of the projected university ; but, declining the position, it was 
offered to Mr. , afterwards Bishop, Strachan, a Scottish divinity 
student and schoolmaster, who accepted it. On his arrival at 
Kingston, on the last day of the century, he found that Gov- 
ernor Simcoe had left the country, and this comprehensive 
educational scheme was for the time abandoned. Mr. Strachan 
soon opened a classical school at Kingston, and, subsequently, 
at Cornwall, at which many of the leading men of the province 
received their scholastic training. 

The promoters of education in Upper Canada committed the 
mistake of attempting the establishment of a university and 
grammar schools before creating their necessary feeders, — 
elementary public schools. It was not till after the war of 
1812-14, that this error was remedied. By an Act of the 
legislature in 1816, a public-school system, the germ of that 
which we now possess, was established, and the sum of £6,000 
per annum was voted to aid in paying teachers and purchasing 
books. This sum, however, was, four years later, reduced more 
than one-half. In 1824, was more fully organized a general 
system of education, and increased grants were made in aid of 
common and grammar schools. In the tumultuous agitations 



596 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

accompanying the rebellion, the subject of education received 
little attention. In the year 1839, however, the Government 
set apart two hundred and fifty thousand acres of land for the 
permanent endowment of grammar schools, and a bonus of 
eight hundred dollars was granted counties which would devote 
a like amount for the erection of a grammar-school building. 

We have mentioned the legislation of the first parliament of 
the united Canadas, 1841, granting two hundred thousand 
dollars per annum for educational purposes. Three years later 
this Act was repealed so far as Upper Canada was concerned, 
and the important duty of re-organizing the common-school 
system of Upper Canada was entrusted to a gentleman emi- 
nently qualified for the task, who has identified his name 
forever with the history of popular education in his native 
province. 

The Eev. Egerton Eyerson, LL. D., was the son of a United 
Empire Loyalist, who bore a colonel's commission under King 
George III. during the American Eevolutionary war. Eger- 
ton was the youngest of three brothers, who all, by their force 
of character, rose to eminence in the ministry of the Methodist 
Church, which they entered at a time when its ministers and 
members sufiered from serious civil disabilities which have long 
since been removed. In the prolonged controversy for the 
disestablishment of the Church of England in Canada, and for 
the secularization of the clergy reserves, Egerton Eyerson bore 
an active part. In a series of published papers and pamphlets 
he contended for those principles of civil and religious liberty 
which are now happily recognized. When, in 1829, the 
Methodist denomination established a religious weekly journal, 
the "Christian Guardian," he was appointed the first editor, 
to which office he was twice re-appointed, and which he held 
for the period of nine years. Through his persistent advocacy 
it largely was that the Methodist Church acquired the right of 
holding ecclesiastical property, and its ministers the right of 
solemnizing matrimony. 

After holding for three years the office of president of the 
University of Victoria College, founded 1841, he received the 



THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION' IN CANADA. 597 

appointment of Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper 
Canada, 1844. For more than thirty years he continued to 
devote his energies to the development of the school system of 
the country, crossing the ocean many times in order to examine 
the educational systems of Europe, and incorporating their 
best features in that of his native province. In this work he 
has been assisted by the co-operation of a Council of Public 
Instruction, composed of the leading educationists of the coun- 
try. Under the fostering influence of the wise and liberal 
legislation of successive parliaments, the public-school system 
of Upper Canada has become one of the noblest of its institu- 
tions, the admiration of travellers from older lands, and one of 
the surest guarantees of its future national prosperity. 

In 1844, after an extensive tour of observation in Europe 
and the United States, Dr. Ryerson submitted an elaborate 
report on the subject of elementary education, and prepared 
the draft of a bill, which, in 1846, became law. The provis- 
ions of the School Act elicited a good deal of adverse criticism, 
and, three years later, it was repealed. In 1850, Dr. Eyersou 
thoroughly revised the organization of the school system, and 
submitted the draft of a bill to the Baldwin Government, which 
was adopted by the legislature, and became the basis of our 
present school law. Successive revisions and improvements of 
the School Act, in 1860, 1865, and especially in 1871, have 
made the public-school system of Ontario one of the most effi- 
cient in existence. It makes provision for compulsory attend- 
ance, local assessment, Government aid, thorough inspection, 
complete equipment, graded examinations, and "separate" 
schools. As already mentioned, a minister of the crown, the 
Hon. Adam Crooks, gives his whole attention, assisted by able 
deputies, to the Department of Education. 

To furnish facilities for the training and practice of teachers, 
the Provincial Normal School was established at Toronto in 
1857. The elegant building shown in the engraving contains 
also the offices and book-depositary of the Department of 
Education. In 1877, a branch normal school was opened at 
Ottawa. Highly successful institutions for the education of 



598 



BISTORT OF CANADA. 




the deaf and dumb, and of the blind, have also been established 

at Belleville and Brantford. 

The cause of higher, 
has kept pace with that of 
elementary education. In 
1830, the Upper Canada 
Academy at Cobourg, was 
projected by the Wes- 
leyan Methodists, and was 
opened four years ^ater. 
In 1841 it became, under 
warrant of a royal charter, 
the University of Victoria 
College, -with. theEev. Dr. 
Ryerson as its first presi- 
dent. The college has 
faculties of arts, law, medi. 
NORMAL SCHOOL, TORONTO. clue, and divinity, and, 

under the continued presidency 

for over twenty years of theEev. 

Dr. Nelles, has attained a high 

degree of prosperity. Queen's 

College, Kingston, under the 

management of the Kirk of 

Scotland, about the same time 

received university powers. 

The following year, the Univer- 
sity of King's College, Toronto, 

V(''as organized, and placed 

under the control of the Angli- 
can Church, with Dr. Strachan 

as its first president. In 1849, 

the college was thrown open, as 

a provincial institution, to all 

denominations, under the dis- 
tinguished presidency of the 

Eev. Dr. McCaul, and received the name of Toronto Univer- 




^=^=^ii^^St^^m^^ 



COLLEGE AVENUE, TORONTO. 



THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 



599 



sity. In 1858, the University and University College took 
jDossession of tlie imposing group of buildings shown at the 
head of this chapter. The noble avenue leading up to the 
college is shown in the accompanying cut. 

Bishop Strachan, and a number of leading members of the 
Church of England, dissatisfied with the change of basis of 
King's College, determined to have a university under exclu- 
sively Anglican control. The venerable bishop, then in his 
seventy-second year, proceeded to England to obtain a charter 
and })rocure financial aid, in both which objects he was success- 
ful. The' college has faculties of divinity, arts, and medicine. 




KNOX COLLEGE, TORONTO. 

In 1846, Eegiopolis College, Kingston ; in 1848, St. Joseph's 
College, Ottawa, and, in 1852, St. Michael's College, Toronto, 
were organized under the control of the Eoman Catholic 
Church. In 1857, the Baptist Church established the Wood- 
stock Literary Institute ; and .the Episcopal Methodists, the 
Belleville Seminary, which, in 1866, received a university char- 
ter as Albert College. These institutions are for both sexes. 
In 1865, Helmuth College for boys, London, was established 
in the interest of the Church of England; and, in 1869, 
Helmuth College for girls. 



600 HISTORY OF CANADA. 

Knox College, Toronto, a theological institution, under the 
control of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, was first estab- 
lished in 1844. In 1876, it occupied the commodious and 
handsome buildings shown in the engraving. 

Provision for the higher education of young ladies has also 
been made by the establishment of proprietary institutions or 
colleges, for the most part under denominational control. The 
more prominent of these are : the Wesleyan Ladies' College, 
Hamilton, and Ontario Ladies' College, Whitby, under Method- 
ist auspices ; the Bishop Strachan School, Toronto, and Helmuth 
Ladies' College, London, under Anglican control; the Brant- 
ford Ladies' College, under Presbyterian management ; together 
with Albert College, and the Woodstock Literary Listitute, for 
both sexes, previously mentioned, and a number of Soman 
Catholic conventual institutions. 

Nova Scotia. In this province the cause of elementary 
education has only of late received that attention to which it is 
entitled. The legislature, indeed, for a long series of years, 
made an annual grant in aid of public schools on condition of 
a similar amomit being raised by local efibrt ; but, for a long 
period, there was no thorough organization of the school sys- 
tem. The people in any school district might have a school, 
or not, as they chose, and they often chose to do without. A 
great impulse was given to the cause of education by the estab- 
lishment of the normal school at Truro in 1855, and, a still 
greater one, by the appointment of Mr. J. W. Dawson, now the 
distinguished principal of McGill College, as Superintendent 
of Education. In 1864, Dr. Tupper submitted to the legisla- 
ture the bill which has organized the school system of the 
province on an enlightened and efficient basis. It j)rovided that 
the schools should be maintained by a provincial grant, aided 
by county and school-section assessment. A council of public 
instruction and county boards were organized for examining 
and grading teachers, and otherwise carrying out the provisions 
of the law. It speaks much for the religious tolerance of the 
country that no provision was considered necessary for ' ' sepa- 
rate " or denominational schools. The marked improvement in 



THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 601 

the structure, organization, and attendance of the public schools 
on the introduction of this system was at once demonstrated, 
and has every year become more apparent. Taxation being 
compulsory, and the schools free, even those at first opposed to 
the new order of things soon embraced its striking advantages. 

In provision for higher education, few countries of the popu- 
lation of Nova Scotia are so well supplied. It enjoys the 
advantages of no less than six universities ; including that at 
Sackville, belonging jointly to Nova Scotia and New. Bruns- 
wick. The oldest of these is King's College, Windsor, 
founded in 1788, and thus, by many years, the oldest Protest- 
ant college in the Dominion, As King's College excluded all 
but members of the Church of England, Dalhousie College 
was, in 1820, established at Halifax, chiefly through the efibrts 
of the Presbyterian Church, although not under denominational 
control. It was sustained partly from the " Castine Fund," — 
the proceeds of the capture of Castine, in Maine, in 1814, — 
and partly by legislative grants. In 1838, was founded Acadia 
College, in the interest of the Baptist denomination, and, two 
years later, it received a university charter. In 1843, the 
Wesleyan Methodists of the maritime provinces, established an 
academy at Mount Allison, Sackville, N. B., which, however, 
did not receive university powers till 1862. Two Eoman 
Catholic Colleges were also established, — St. Mary's, at Hali- 
fax, in 1840, and St. Francois Xavier College, at Antigonish, 
in 1855. All of these institutions receive a yearly grant from 
the legislature, which is supplemented by fees and denomina- 
tional contributions. * 

In 1876 was established, by an Act of the provincial legisla- 
ture, the University of Halifax. It takes no j)art in the work 
of teaching ; its functions, like those of the London University, 
being chiefly to hold examinations in arts, law, and medicine, 
and to confer degrees. It invites the afBliation of the denomi- 
national colleges, but their legislative grants are not contingent 
upon such affiliation. 

* In 1876, the income of these sis colleges, was $34,921 ; of this, $10,800 
■was granted by the legislature. 
76 



602 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 




THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN CANADA. 603 

The cut on the opposite page represents the public-school 
buildings at Yarmouth, containing the seminary and eight 
departments of the common school. It is one of tlie largest 
and most successful m the province. 

New BEtnsrswiCK. The legislature of New Brunswick, as 
early as 1823, passed an Act encouraging the establishment of 
parish schools. Ten years later, a general Act was passed 
granting aid to the extent of one hundred and sixty pounds in 
each parish, if as much were raised by local effort, — the aggre- 
gate amount being about twelve thousand pounds per annum. 
Successive acts of legislation improved the character and 
organization, and increased the support of these schools till the 
parish allowance reached the amount of six hundred and sixty 
pounds a year. A normal and model school were established at 
St. John, — afterward removed to Fredericton, — and provin- 
cial and county superintendents of public instruction appointed. 
Such was the efficiency of the school system that, in 1865, 
there were in the jDrovince nine hundred schools in successful 
operation, besides fifty superior and denominational schools. 
One of the results of confederation was the adoption, in 1871, 
of a school system modelled on that of Ontario. We have 
already narrated the agitation and acrimonious debate which 
resulted from the application of this law to the separate schools 
of New Brunswick. The system of non-sectarian schools was 
sustained by a large majority. In 1875, as we have seen, a 
serious school-riot took place, but an effort has been made to 
remove any just ground of discontent with the school law, from 
which the best results may be anticipated. 

The University of New Brunswick, originally known as 
King's College, was founded as such by royal charter in 1828, 
and only assumed its present name in 1860. Established as a 
Church of England institution, it was considered too sectarian 
and exclusive in its character, and the several attempts made to 
modify it failed to give general satisfaction. In the legislative 
sessions of 1858-59, it was made non-sectarian in character, 
and eliciting broader sympathies as the University of New 
Brunswick, entered upon a career of increased efficiency and 



604 



HISTORY OF CANADA. 



success. The origin of the Sackville college we have already 
described. It enjoys the unique position of receiving legisla- 
tive aid from both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The 
Presbyterians have also a college at Woodstock, and an 
academy at Chatham. 




UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRTTNSWICK, FREDERICTON. 

Prince Edward Island. On the first distribution of lands 
by lottery, in the year 1767, as before described, thirty acres 
were reserved in each township for a schoolmaster. The legis- 
lature made annual grants in aid of education from as early as 
1808, but they were meagre in amount and meagre in results. 
Enlightened legislation established free schools in 1852, and 
the school grant was soon raised to the liberal sum of twelve 
thousand pounds j)er annum. Since the period of confedera- 
tion the school system has been greatly developed and 
improved, and the popular elections have declared emphatically 
in favor of non-sectarian education. 

An academy for higher education was established in Char- 
lottetown in 1836, and a normal school in 1856. The educa- 



THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION 7.V CANADA. 605 

tional pyramid was completed in 1861, by the addition of the 
Prince of Wales College, a memorial of the visit of His Royal 
Highness the previous year. 

Manitoba. A school system of a liberal character was 
organized in the ' ' prairie province " in the first session of its 
first parliament in 1871. A provincial board of education was 
constituted, with two superintendents, — one a Protestant, and 
the other a Eoman Catholic, — and aided by a grant of six 
thousand dollars. The rapid influx of population, however, 
demands and receives increased legislative and local appropria- 
tions. The Presbyterians, Methodists, Church of England, 
and Roman Catholics, have their denominational institutions ; 
and already a Provincial University has been organized, on the 
model of Halifax and London Universities, for the purpose of 
holding examinations, and giving degrees. The educational 
future of the great North-west is full of promise. 

British Columbia. The school system of British Columbia 
was organized in April, 1872, and was modelled largely upon 
that of Ontario. The legislature struck a liberal kej-note by 
the generous vote of forty thousand dollars a year for educa- 
tional purposes. This is designed to supersede the levying of 
rates by school trustees, and to cover, in part at least, the cost 
of school erections. 

Thus, in each province of our young Dominion have been 
laid, broad and deep, in their public-school systems and insti- 
tutions for higher learning, the foundations of national great- 
ness and prosperity. The universal diifusion of the elements 
of education, and the union of intellectual culture with moral 
worth ; an intelligent love of the noble country which is ours, 
and an earnest endeavour to seek its highest welfare ; a gen- 
erous love of liberty, and a firm resolve to maintain the self- 
government of the people through their freely chosen represen- 
tatives in the councils of the country, — these shall l)e the 
pledges of the stability of our institutions, these shall be the 
corner-stone of our national greatness. 



INDEX. 



Abenaquis, ravages of, 172. 
Abercrombie, Lord, 211, 212 ; defeat of, 222-225. 
Abraham, Plains of, 247-250. 

Acadian Neutrals, 194, 205-207 ; expulsion of, 207-209. 

Acadia colonized, 52; under Razille and D'Aulnay, 105-110. See Nova Scotia 
Acadia College, 601. 
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 192. 
Alabama Claims, 547. 
Allan, Sir Hugh, 552, 555. 

America, Discovery of, 16-23; origin of name, 24; whence peopled, 37 
American Revolution, 273, et seq. 

American War of 1812-14 ; causes of, 301-303 ; effects of, 326, 340. 
American Civil War, 448, 449 ; effects on Canada, 460, 462, 467. 

Amherst, General, 220, 232; captures Ticomderoga and Crown Point, 233, 234; at Mon- 
treal, 255, 256. 
Amnesty, Red River, 564. 
Anglin, T. W., 560, 579, note; 584, note. 
Annapolis, 167. See Port Royal. 
Anti-Confederation Movement, 466, 467, 511, 552. 
Arbitration, Geneva, 214. 
Argall, Captain, 55, 56. 
Arnold, Benedict, besieges Quebec, 277-280. 
Aroostook War, 503. 
Arthur, Sir George, 385. 
Ashburton Treaty, 508. 
Assiniboia, Council of, 535. 
Aylmer, Lord, 363. 

Bagot, Sir Charles, 400-402. 

Baldwin, Robert, 358, 379, 402, 408, 418, 443. 

Baltimore, Battle of, 337. 

Barclay, Captain, 321. 

Beauhamois, Marquis de, 184. 

Beaver Dams, exploit at, 317. 

Belleau, SirN. F., 524. 

Berlin Decree, 301. 

"Better Terms " given Nova Scotia, 526, 527. 

Bidwells, The, 354, 374. 

Bigot, M., 195 ; his villainy, 214-218 ; his fall, 259, 260. 

Blake, Edward, 549, and note. 

" Bloody Run," fight at, 265. 

Boulton, Major, at Red River, 540. 



60.8 INDEX. 

Boundary Award, 508. 

Boundary Disputes, 503, 507, 508. 

Boyd, John, 582, 583. 

Bouquet, Colonel, 266, 269. 

Braddock, General, 199 ; defeat of, 200-202, 

Bradstreet, 212, 223, 225, 268. 

Brant, Joseph, 298. 

Brebeuf, 85 ; his martyrdom, 92, 93. 

British Columbia, 543, 572. 

British North America Act, 520-524. 

Brock, General, Governor of Upper Canada, 296 ; captures General Hull, 304-306 ; death 

of, 307 ; his monument, 308, and note, 394. 
Brown, George, 425, 436 ; forms cabinet, 440 ; his "joint authority " resolutions, 444, 445 ; 

enters coalition ministry, 460 ; leaves cabinet, 469 ; enters senate, 560. 
Burgoyne, 281 ; surrender of, 283. 
Bushy Run, Tragedy of, 266, 267. 

Cabots, The, 25, 26. 

Caens, De, 64. 

Callieres, 150, 170. 

Campbell, Sir Alexander, 505, 506. 

Campbell, Sir Colin, 490-492. 

Canada, Discovery of, 28 ; origin of name, 57, mte ; under Hundred Associates, 65-104 ; 
royal government, \n,et seq. ; surrender of, 256 ; effects of conquest, 257, 258, 269, 270 
(see War of 1812-14) ; Canada trade act, 353 ; American invasion of, 275-282 ; rebel- 
lion in, 363-389 ; Dominion of, 520, et seq. 

Canada Land Company, 358. 

Canada Pacific Railway, 552, 561. 

Carignan Regiment, 116. 

Carillon, fall of, 233-235. 

Carleton, 'Colonel, 499-510. • ■ 

Carleton, Sir Guy, 270-283; Lord Dorchester, 115; leaves Canada, 299. 

Caroline, destruction of the, 383, 395. 

Cartier, Jacques, 28 ; explores St. Lawrence, 29 ; at Hochelaga, 30 ; winters at Quebec, 31. 

Cartier, Sir George E., 425, 441 ; death of, 553. 

Cathcart, General, 404. 

Censitdires, 121. 

Census, 450. 

Centennial Exhibition, Canada at the, 571, 572. 

Champlain, Samuel de, 49-69 ; founds Quebec, 57 ; discovers Lake Champlain, and ex- 
plores the Ottawa, 59 ; discovers Lakes Huron, Simcoe, and Ontario, 60, 61 ; war with 
Senecas, 63 ; surrenders to Kirk, 67 ; returns to Canada, 68 ; death, ib. ; character of, 
69. 

Charlevoix, Pere, 180. 

CharlottetoAvn Conference, 462, 463. 

Chateauguay, Battle of, 324. 

Chauncey, Commodore, 310, 314, 315, 319. 

Chauvin founds Tadousac, 49. 

Chesapeake, The, taken, 327. 

Chippewa, Battle of, 331. 

Chrysler's Farm, Battle of, 323. 

Clergy Reserves, 394, 421, 426. 

Colleges, Canadian, 592, 605 ; ladies' do., 600. 



INDEX. 609 

Colbert, 112, 114. 

Colbomc, 35S-3G2 ; suppresses rebellion, 369-371. 

Columbus, cin-istopher, 20-23. 

Commission, Joint High, 548. 

Commune, The, 545. 

Company of the Hundred Associates, 65, 77, 104, 111. 

Confederation Proposed, 461-465, 497 ; adopted, 466 ; accomplished, 478, 498, 520. 

Conquest of Canada, 237, et seq. ; effects of, 257, 258, 269, 270. 

Constitutional Act, 289, 290. 

Constitution of Canada, 521-524. 

Cortereal, 27. 

Corrigan Trial, The, 432. 

Courcelles, M. de, 117, 118. 

Coureurs de bois, 122, 185, 528. 

Craig, Sir James, 300, 301. 

Creve Coeur, 137. 

Crimean War, 428, 429. 

Crooks, Hon. A., 572, 579. 

Crown Point, 203, 204. 

Da Gama, 24. 

D'Ailleboust, M., 101. 

Dalhousie College, 601. 

Balhousie, Earl of, 345-348. 

Daniel, Pere, murdered, 91. 

D'Argenson, 102, 103. 

Dates of Early Settlements, 44, note ; 74, note. 

D'Aulnay in Acadia, 105-109. 

D'Avaugour, 103, 104. 

Dawson, 594, 600. 

Dead-Lock, Political, 458, 459. 

Dearborn, General, routed at Lacolle, 310; at York, 314; beleaguered in Fort George 

317. 
De Boucherville Ministry, 585-587. 
Deerfield, Massacre of, 173, 174. 
De Mezy, 112, 114, 116. 
De Monts, 51-57. 

Dennis, Colonel, at Fort Erie, 475 ; at Red River, 538. 
Denonville, M. De, 150, 151. 
De Tracy, 116-120. 

Detroit founded, 171 ; Pontiac at, 262-268 ; captured by Brock, 304-306. 
Dlberville, 1G5-167, 169. 

Dieskau, defeat of, 203, 204. ^ 

Dighton Rock Inscription, 19, 20. 
Donnacona, 30. 
Dorchester, Lord, 288-299. 
Dorion, A. A., 426, 456. 
"Double Majority," 397, 449. 
"Double Shuffle," The, 442. 
Douglas, Lord, 530. 
Drake, 45. 

Draper, 394, 402, 407. 
Dmmmond, General, 332, 342. 
77 



610 INDEX. 

Dufferin, Lord, 550-589. . 

Du Quesne, Fort, 196, 200 ; fall of, 226, 227. 

Du Quesne, M., 195. 

Dm-ham, Lord, 370 ; his report, 371, 390. 

Earliest Settlements, Dates of, 44, note ; 74, note. 

Earle, S. Z., 581. 

Earthquake in Canada, 104. 

Education in Canada, 592-605. 

Egg Islands, Catastrophe at, 177, 178. 

Elgin, Lord, 406 ; mohhed, 410-412 ; resigns, 428. 

English Colonization, 70-74. 

Erie, Fort, Battle of, 333 ; Fenians at, 475. 

Erie, Lake, Battle on, 321. 

" Family Compact," The, 350, 353, 356, 358, 490. 

Fenians, The, 471 ; invasion of, 472-477; repulse of, 475-477; trials, 479; last raids of,, 

543. 
Fishery Award, 583, 584. 
Fitzgibbon, Lieutenant, gallant exploit of, 312. 
Five Nations, The. See Iroquois. 
Fort Garry, 538. 
Franco-Prussian "War, 545. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 198 ; at Montreal, 281. 
French Town surprised, 313. 
Frobisher, 45, 

Frontenac, 129-148 ; second administration of, 155-168 ; death of, 168. 
Frontenac, Fort, founded, 131-133. 
Fugitive Slave Extradition, 448. 
Fur Companies, rival, 558, et seq. 
Fur Trade, 114, 122, 185, 528-530. 

Gallows Hill, fight at, 380. 

Gait, Sir A. T., 441. 

Gavazzi riots, 412, 413. 

Geneva Arbitration, 214. 

George, Battles of Lake. See Ticonderoga. 

Ghent, Treaty of, 339. 

Gibson, Alexander, 583. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 46. 

Gore, Francis, Governor of Upper Canada, 295 ; returns, 349-353. 

Gosford, Lord, 365-370. 

Gourlay, Robert, 351, 352. 

Grand Pre, tragedy of, 208, 

" Great Eastern," The, 480. 

Griffin, The, 136. 

Guibord riots, 566. 

Guyart, Marie (de 1' Incarnation), 76. 

Haldimand, General, 282. 

Halifax founded, 193, 194 ; in war time, 285 ; University of, 601. 

Hampton, General, 324. 

Harrison, General, invades Upper Canada, 321. 



INDEX. 611 

Harvey, Sir John, 493-495, 507. 

Haverhill, massacre of, 174. 

Head, Sir Edmund, 430-450. 

Head, Sir Francis, 362, 371 ; awaits rebellion, 375 ; recalled, 385. 

Hennepin, Father, 135-137, 139. 

Henry, Captain, 302, 303. 

Hertel de Rouville, 157, 158. 

Hincks, Francis, 401, 418, 423, 424, 428. 

Hochelaga, 30. 

Hodgins, Dr., quoted, 594. 

Howe, Joseph, 470, 490, 492, 493, 498, 526, 554. 

Howe, Lord, death of, 223. 

Hudson, Henry, 48, note. 

Hudson's Bay, French and English in, 127, 168. 

Hudson's Bay Company, 528, et seq. 

Hudson's Bay Territory, 525 ; ceded to Canada, 537. 

Hull, General, surrenders, 306. 

Hundred Associates, The, 65, 77, 104, 111. 

Hunter, Major-General, 293-295. 

" Hunter's Lodges," 382, 386. 

Huntington, Mr., charges of, 553. 

Hurons, 60-62, 84-96. 

Huron Missions, 84, 90 ; destroyed, 90-96. 

Immigration, large, 364, 407. 

Indians, Origin of name, 34 ; the mound-huilders, 34-37 ; characteristics, 38 ; wars, 40 ; 

superstitions, 41 ; tribes, 42 ; present locations, 43. See Hurons, Iroquois, etc. 
Intendant, The, Duties of, 112. 
Intercolonial Railway, 494. 
Iroquois, 42 ; wars with, 58, 63, 79, 148 ; incursions of, 90-94, 96, 139, 152, 153, 163. 

Jamestown, founding of, 70-72. 

Jesuits in Acadia, 55; in Canada, 64, 75, 80; missions of, 81-100; explorers, 82, 125, 

130, 185. 
Jogues, Pere, 82, 83. 

Johnson, Sir William, 198, 203, 204, 230-232, 268. 
" Joint Authority Resolutions," 444, 445. 
Joliet, 130. 

Joly Ministry, 587, 588. 
Jonquiere, M. de la, 191-195. 
Judges, appointment of, 523. 
JumonviUe, M,, 196. 

Kebeeca Liherata, 162. 

Kempt, Sir James, 363. 

King's College, Toronto, 595, 598 ; Windsor, 601 ; Fredericton, 603. 

Kingston, seat of government, 396, 397. 

Kirk, Admiral, captures Quebec, 67. * 

Knox College, 60Q. 

Kondiaronk, the Rat, treachery of, 152, 153 ; death of, 171. 

Lachine, massacre of, 153. 
Lafontaine, Sir L. H., 400. 



612 INDEX. 

Lalemant, Pore, 87. 

La Salle, 131; iis explorations, 134-146; plants Texan colony, 142-144; death of, ib. 

La Tours, The, 67, 68 ; the younger, adventures of, 105-109. 

La Tour, Madame, heroism of, 106-108. 

Lauson, De, 102. 

Laval, Abbe, 102, 111, 112, 148, 594. 

Legislatures, Dominion, 521, 622; local, 523. 

Lepine, 564. 

Lescarbot, 53. 

Levi, M. De, 253, 254. 

Lincoln, Death of, 467. 

Lome, Marquis of, 550, 590. 

Loudon, Lord, 211, 215. 

Louisburg, Siege of, 188-190 ; second siege, 220-222. 

Louise, Princess, 550, 590. 

Lower Canada, Organization of, 300 ; rebellion in, 363-372. 

Loyalists, United Empire, 385-387, 485, 486. 

Lundy's Lane, Battle of, 332, 333. 

Macdonald, Colonel, 307. 

Macdonald, J. Sandfield, 426, 549. 

Macdonald, Sir John A., 433, 435 ; resigns government, 557. 

Macdougall, Hon. William, 458 ; at Red River, 538. 

Mackenzie, Hon. Alexander, 558, and note. 

Mackenzie, "William Lyon, 356, 357, 360, 361 ; rebels, 376 ; attacks Toronto, 377-380 ; at 

Navy Island, 381 ; m prison, 388, 389 ; his death, 450. 
Maisonneuve, 77. 
Maitland, Sir Peregrine, 344, 353. 
Manitoba Act, 541 ; education in, 605. 
Marquette, Pere, 125, 130. 
McClure burns Niagara, 325. 
McGee, T. D'Arcy, 439 ; shot, 525. 
McGill College, 594. 
McLean's Sedition, 300. 

McNab, Colonel, and Sir Allan, 380, 383, 403, 424, 425, 432. 
Metcalfe, Sir Charles, 402-404. 
Meigs, Fort, Siege of, 320. 
Michilimackinac, 334. 
Miramichi, great fire of, 502, 503. 

Missions, Huron, 81-90 ; destruction of, 91-96 ; Onondaga, 98-100 ; Abenaquis, 181-184. 
Mohawks, expeditions against, 117, 119, 164, 
Monck, Lord, 451-528. 

Montcalm, Marquis de, 211-215, 220, 223-225, 227, 239-249; death of, 250-251. 
Montgomery, Richard, 276-279. 
Montmagny, 74. 
Montmorency, fight at, 243-245, 
Montreal named, 30 ; founded, 77-79 ; surrender of, 256 ; public buildings, 573, 575 ; 

party riots in, 588; parliament buildings burned, 410, 411. 
Moodie, Colonel, killed, 378. 
Moravian Town, Battle of, 321, 322, - 
Mound-builders, The, 34-37. 
Mounted police. The, 565. 
Municipal Institutions, 398, 415. 



INDEX. 613 

Municipal Loan Fund, 419. 

Murray, General, at Quebec, 253-255 ; military governor, 258-270. 

Navy Island, 381. 

Nelson, Robert, 371. 

Nelson, Wolfred, 367, 368. 

New Brunswick, 486; organization of government, 499; great fire in, 502,503; crown- 
land grievances, 505 ; boundary disputes, 503, 507, 508 ; anti-Confederate, 466, 467, 
511 ; school-law troubles, 567-569; education in, 603. 

New England Colonies, 72. 

Newfoundland discovered, 26; fisheries, 27, 45; French and English in, 127, 167, 176, 
483. 

New Orleans, Battle of, 337-339. 

Newport Tower, 19. 

New York, taken from Dutch, 115. 

Niagara, Fort, captured from the Fiench, 430-432 ; seat of government (Newark) , 490- 
492; captured by Americans, 315, 316, 325, 326; burned, 325. 

Normal Schools, 597, 600, 603. 

Norsemen, The, 18-20. 

North-west Company, 529. 

North-west Territory, 537, 538, 

Nova Scotia colonized, 52 ; charter granted, 66; government organized, 193, 194, 482; 
in war time, 285, 483^85, 487 ; " Family Compact " in, 490, 491 ; anti-Confederate, 
526 ; " Better terms " granted, 526, 527 ; education in, 600, 601. 

Odelltown, fight at, 329, 371. 

Ohio Company, 195. 

Onondaga Mission, 98-100. 

Orange processions, 588. 

" Order of the Good Time," The, 54. 

Ormeaux, Dulac des. Heroism of, 100, 101 

Oswego taken, 211-213. 

Ottawa selected as capital, 440 ; becomes seat of government, 468. • 

"Pacific Scandal," The, 553-556. 

Packenham, General, at New Orleans, 337-339. 

Papineau, Louis, 344, 347, 365-367. 

Paris, Peace of, 269. 

Parliament Building at Montreal burned, 410, 411. 

Parliament, first, of United Canadas, 396, 397; first, of Dominion, 525. 

Parr Town, founding of, 485. 

Party riots in Montreal, 588. 

" Patriot " "War, 382-389. 

Peltrie, Madame de la, 76. 

Pemaquid, Fort, taken, 165, 166. 

Pepperell, William, captures Louisbnrg, 188-190. 

Perry's Victory on Lake Erie, 321. 

Phips, Sir "William, takes Port Royal, 15*; attacks Quebec, 160-162. 

PUgrimage riots at Toronto, 567. 

Pitt, "William, 210, 219, 228, 260. 

Plains of Abraham, 247-250. 

Plattsburg, attack on, 334. 

Plymouth, founding of, 72 



614 INDEX. 

Pontiac, Conspiracy of, 262-269. 

Port Royal founded; 53-55 ; pillaged by Argall, 56 ; taken by Kirk, 66 ; by Phips, 159. 

Pontgi-ave, 49. 

Poutrincourt colonizes Port Royal, 53, 54, 56. 

Prescott, General, 300. 

Prerost, Sir George, 301 ; at Sackett's Harbour, 318 ; retreat from Plattsburg, 344, 345. 

Prince Edward Island, 513 ; enters the Dominion, 519. 

Prince Albert, death of, 452. 

Prince of "Wales in Canada, 445-447 ; marriage of, 457. 

Privy Council of Dominion, first, 524 ; second, 559. 

Proctor, Col., at French Town, 313 ; at Fort Meigs, 320 ; at Moravian Town, 321. 

Protection Resolutions, 577, 585. 

Punshon, W. Morley, 577. 



Qu' Appelle Treaty, 563. 

Quebec founded, 57; origin of name, ib., note; captured by Elirk, 67; besieged by 
Phips, 160-162; Walker's attempt against, 177, 178; "Wolfe before, 237-247; fall of, 
251, 252 ; Quebec Act, 271 ; besieged by Arnold, 279, 280 ; fires, 403, 467, 479 ; Quebec 
Conference, 463, 464. 

Queenston Heights, Battle of, 306-308. 

Quit-rents, 488, 514-518. 

Queen Anne's "War, 170. 



Railways— Northern, 416 ; Grand Trunk, 417 ; Intercolonial, 494, 571 ; Canada Pacific, 

552, 561. 
Railway strike, 578. 
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 46, 47. 
Rasles, Father, 181-184. 
RebelUon Losses Bill, 404, 408, 412. 

Rebel hon, The, Lower Canada, 363-372 ; "Upper Canada, 373-389. 
Reciprocity Treaty, 414, 423, 469, 470, 5G2. 
Red River Settlement founded, 530 ; conflicts, 531 ; privations, 533, 534 ; prosperity, 535 ; 

rebellion, 538-542; Red River expedition, 541, 542; amnesty, 564. 
Representation by population, 455. 
Resolutions, The Ninety-two, 365 ; the Ten, 375. 
Responsible Government, 396-405. 
Revolutionary War, causes of, 273-274. 
Riall, General, at Chippewa, 331 ; at Lundy's Lane, 332. 
Richelieu, Cardinal, 65. 
Richmond, Duke of, 343, 344. 
Ridgeway, fight at, 474. 

Riel, revolt of, 538-542 ; expelled from Parliament, 560. 
Roberval, 32, 33. 
Robinson, Sir J. B., 350. 
Rogers, Major, 225, 236, 261. 
Rolph, Dr., 356, 379, 382, 418. 
Ronvillc, Hertel de, 157, 158, 172-175. 
Rupert's Land Act, 537. 
Russell, Lord John, 375. 
Ryerson, Rev. Dr., 377, 596, 597. 
Rys\vick, Peace of, 168. 



INDEX. 615 

Sackett's Harbour, attack on, 318, 319. 

SackviUe College, 601. 

Salaberry, De, 324. 

Salle, La. See La Salle. 

San Juan difficulty, 544. 

Schenectady (Corlaer) sacked, 157. 

Schultz, Dr., 539. 

Schultz, Von, 387. 

Scott, Thomas, shot, 540. See 564. 

Sea-Fights, 310, 319, 327. 

Secession, War of. See American Civil-War. 

Secord, Mrs., bravery of, 317. 

Seignenrial Tenure, 121 ; abolished, 427. 

Selku-k, Lord, 528. 

Senate, The, 521. 

Senecas, War with, 151. 

Seven Years' War, 210. 

Sheafie, General, 307, 308, 315. 

Sherbrooke, Sir John, 342, 343. »■ 

Simcoe, Governor, 291-293. 

Six Nations, The. See Iroquois, etc. 

Smith, Captain John, 70, 71. 

Smythe, General, 308, 309. 

Spanish Explorations, 44. 

Stadacona, 30-32. 

Stamp Act, 274. 

St. Castine, 166. 

St. Croix, disastrous winter at, 52, 53. 

Ste. Foye, Battle of, 253-254. 

St. Germain-en-Laye, Treaty of, 68, 105. 

St. John, French on site of, 105-109 ; founded, 485, 499 ; riots, 508 ; great fire, 580. 

St. Just, Letellier De, 585. 

St. Lawrence discovered, 29. 

St. Marie, Mission of, 89-94. 

Stony Creek, Battle of, 316. 

Strachan, Rev. Dr., 355, 356, 577, 595, 599. 

Southern Raiders, 460. 

Supreme Council, The, French, 112 ; English, 564. 

Sydenham, Lord, 391-399. 

Tache, 432, 433. 

Talon, M., 116-128; able administration of, 120, 121, 124. 

Tecumseh, 305, 320 ; death of, 322. 

Temperance Legislation, 562, 579, 585. 

Ten Resolutions, The, 375. 

Thompson, Hon. Charles. See Lord Sydenham. 

Thorpe, Judge, 395. 

Thunder Cape, 561. 

Ticonderoga, attacks on, 203, 204, 222-225 ; fall of, 233, 235. 

Tilley, S. L., 581. 

Timber-trade, 501, 504. 

Times, The, on Canada, 551. 



616 INDEX. 

Toronto founded, 292 ; captured, 314, S19 ; attacked by rebels, 379, 380 ; seat of govern- 
ment, 415, 431 ; pubUc buildings of, 574, 576, 577, 592, 598, 599. 
Tracy, Marquis de, 116. 
Trent Affair, The, 451, 452, 511. 
Trinity College, 599. 
Turcotte, Hon. A., 585. 

Union Scheme, 391, 392 ; Union Act, 393, 394 ; Union accomplished, 396. 

United Empire Loyalists, 285-287, 485, 486, 499. 

Upper Canada, Settlement of, 286,287; early legislation, 291-293 ; origin of parties in, 
294; early condition of, 296, 297; "Family Compact" in, 350, 353, 356, 358; rebel- 
lion in, 373-389 ; union with Lower Canada, 391-396 ; military strength of, 391. 

Utrecht, Treaty of, 178. 

Universities, Canadian, 592-605. 

,\ 
"Vancouver's Island, 544. ' 

Vaa Egmond, 380. 

Vaudreuil, Marquis de, 171. ' 

V^rendryes, The, 185. ^ 

Versailles, Peace of, 284. 

Vespucci, 24. 

Victoria Bridge, 445. 

Victoria CoUege, 598. 

Vincent, Colonel, 315, 316, 325. 

Virginia, Settlement of, 70-72. 

Villebon, on the St. John, 165-167. 

"Walker, Sir Hovenden, his attempt against Quebec, 177, 178. 

"Wampum, 41. 

"War of 1812-14; causes of, 301-303 ; effects of, 326, 327, 340. 

"Washington burned, 335, 336 ; treaty of, 547, 546, 584. 

"Washington, George, 195-197, 226, 284, 285. 

"Weir, Lieut., 369. 

"Wilkinson, General, 322 ; defeated at Chrysler's Farm, 323 ; at Odelltown, 329. 

"William Henry, Fort, 214 ; massacre of, 215, 216. 

"Williams, Sir Fenwick, 447, 448. 

"Wihnot, Hon. L. A., 506. 

"Windmill Point, Battle of, 387. 

Wolfe, General, 220, 222, 227, 228 ; before Quebec, 237-247 ; slain, 250. 

"Wolseley, Colonel, 541, 542, 564. 

Yeo, Sir James, 318, 330. 

York founded, 292 ; captured, 314, 315 ; second capture, 319. 

Young, Rev. George, at Red River, 640. 

Young, Sir John, 526. 



LBAg'04 ' 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




017 373 693 9 







■V. .■!■'•'•»,' >'•■■ 

•>,'.-■',•. \v.'. 






.I.Vt.VI/y'AS < ... .','.>'r>i.V'\ , > 






